Sirius hadn't expected Ariadne to follow him down to the pump house. After all, they'd both needed some time to calm down. But all the same, when he awoke to see that the morning light was creeping underneath the doorway and she hadn't come, it irritated the wound and the pain resurfaced.

Sighing, he rolled over, gently lifted Buckbeak's wing and slid out from beneath it. He yawned, stretched and pulled off the cloak, doublet and shirt before heading outside into the beautiful late August morning. The pool was freezing but invigorating as he dived in, staying beneath the water for as long as he dared until the pressure in his lungs forced him up for air. As he burst from the water, running his hands through his hair and pushing the water from his face, he was amazed to see Ariadne standing on the bank dressed in a simple claret skirt, matching top and crocheted, tasselled shawl draped around her shoulders. Her hair was pinned back from her face but it was falling in tangled waves down her back and her eyes sparkled even though they looked puffy and red. She still looked breathtaking, much to his annoyance.

He refused to look at her as he climbed from the pool, dried his trousers with his wand and walked past her back towards the pump house.

'Sirius?'

He stopped, closed his eyes and sighed before turning around to face her. He didn't say anything, waiting for her.

'I came out to see if you wanted some breakfast.'

'No,' he replied, then continued up the path.

'Please don't be like this with me.'

He stopped again, turned around. She was standing on the path a few feet behind him, the shawl pulled tight around her, her arms folded across her chest. Tears shimmered in her eyes and she was biting her lower lip, trying to keep the tears from falling.

'I'm not hungry,' he said, just as gruffly. She had hurt him deeply and shedding a few tears and offering him breakfast wasn't going to change anything. The way he was feeling at the moment, he doubted whether he would be staying around for much longer anyway. He could deal with loneliness - it was the pain he couldn't stand.

'I'm sorry, Sirius,' she sputtered just as he was about to turn away again. 'I'm so sorry. But I'm not as strong as you. I'm frightened, and I… I just don't want us to quarrel anymore. I need you...please.'

As much as his wounded pride would have loved him to wallow in his own misery for a little while longer, the sight of her standing there in tears, desperate for reassurance, reduced even his stubbornness to quiet submission. He stepped back down the path towards her and pulled her without hesitation into his arms. For a few moments he just held her and allowed her to hold him back, her grip tight; desperate. When she let go, his hands moved tenderly over her back, through her hair to her face.

'Feel better now?' he asked softly, tilting her chin, making her look at him.

She nodded, wiping her tears away with a self-conscious half smile.

'Good. Why don't we go have that breakfast then?'

The half-smile broadened, though it was still watery.

'That sounds good.'

He had always known that the reason behind her rather unfair attack had been fear, but he also knew that he wouldn't have been quite so volatile himself if she hadn't struck a nerve. Several of them. Guilt, fear, pain, anger...none of them were healthy feelings to have. Certainly not together. They'd both said things they regretted and he loved her far too much to waste the time they had been given with petty point scoring, prolonging her punishment with childish silence. He had no doubt that Snape's life would have been in danger whether or not he had antagonised Malfoy anyway. If anything, at least the task had been assigned to them rather than someone who really would have carried it out.

He reached for her hand and they walked back up to the house together.

Breakfast turned out to be extended into lunch after they decided to take the rest of the coffee, toast and bacon back upstairs to make up for the previous night apart. It was desperate, needy, and when it was over, she cried so hard that all he could do was hold her until she had exhausted herself and fallen asleep again. He would have cried himself if he'd thought it would have done any good.

It was mid afternoon when she awoke again. She was still trembling a little as she propped herself up on her elbow to look down at him.

'I was thinking,' she said, 'what about Polyjuice potion? Could we get them to believe that someone else is Severus?'

Sirius turned onto his side and trailed his hand lazily over her thighs beneath the quilt. 'And what? Get someone who's hell bent on being tortured to death to take his place?'

'Well…if you put it that way…I suppose it wasn't the brightest of ideas, was it?'

'Mmm...don't discard it yet. I mean, it's a possibility that we could consider, if we could get the person away safely before Voldemort shows up. Even then, it's going to involve telling people what we're doing. I don't think that would be very wise with my history. I think the only person I would trust with something like that would be Dumbledore and I would never even consider asking him. Let's set that idea on the 'maybe' pile.'

'Yeah,' she sighed, 'you're probably right. There is one more thing I was considering.'

'Which was?'

'We tell Severus.'

'What?'

'Tell him that the Death Eaters want him dead. Let him decide what to do.'

'That's an even worse idea than the Polyjuice.'

'Thanks.'

'He can barely stand to be in the same room as either of us! Anyway, the last time I saw him he was bent on giving Remus and me to the Dementors. Such a nice chap, your brother… What on earth makes you think that he'll even speak to us, let alone help us anyway?'

'The self-preservation instinct is pretty strong in most people, isn't it? Severus isn't any different. He will act if he knows his life is in danger. I don't think we can do this alone anymore. We have to tell someone what we're doing, Sirius. Because of your history.'

He knew that she was right because of the heavy, nauseating feeling that was making a home in the bottom of his stomach. Feeling ill usually meant one of two things for him; guilt or an uncomfortable realisation. In this case, it was the latter.

They had been through the worst - passed the Death Eaters initiation, manipulated Malfoy into using his influence to make it common knowledge that Pettigrew was still alive, regained some measure of freedom for him that would keep the Dementors away, at least for a while - if they proceeded much further and someone were to see them or to misunderstand, they would both be thrown into Azkaban. And this time it would be the Kiss and there would be nothing anyone could do to help him. This was his last chance. Maybe it was time to tell Dumbledore and, more importantly, Harry. Sirius would have hated for Harry to hear some rumour about his godfather that would potentially undo everything that had been done over the past few months.

After all, if the Death Eaters were watching them, they would be expected to go to Hogwarts. Meeting with Snape would be expected too. There seemed to be little they could do to avoid it.

'Alright,' he sighed. 'Let's say we do go to Hogwarts and we do tell him. What if he refuses to see us? Refuses to listen?'

'We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. I'm sure that he will listen though, Sirius. We did get along once, albeit a long time ago. Give him a chance.'

'Oh I can give him a chance. Whether he'll give me oneis another matter. Anyway, it's all a bit moot at the moment because we haven't had the all-clear from Malfoy yet.'

'Well…actually,' she said, shifting away from him to reach beneath the mattress for a battered, well-thumbed copy of that morning's Prophet.

He sat up. 'Let me see... What's it say?'

'That Malfoy is very efficient at getting things done.'

SIRIUS BLACK SENSATIONALLY AQUITTED IN SPECIALLY CONVENED MINISTRY HEARING.

Sirius Black, notorious as the only wizard ever to escape from Azkaban, has been sensationally acquitted, in his absence, of all charges relating to the deaths of twelve Muggles and wizard, Peter Pettigrew in the infamous incident following the demise of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named in 1981. Black had served twelve years for the crime before escaping in 1993 and thereafter successfully eluding capture.

A specially convened late-night session at the Wizengamot held yesterday heard evidence from Mr Lucius Malfoy who had previously witnessed Mr Peter Pettigrew in London last week almost thirteen years after his supposed murder. Mr Malfoy - outraged at the miscarriage of justice that seemed to have befallen Black under the previous administrator of the Ministry of Magic's Magical Law Enforcement Department, Mr Devon Brussels - tracked Mr Pettigrew's movements, corned and captured him yesterday at a condemned house in London's East End where Mr Pettigrew had apparently been hiding.

Under extensive questioning by the Ministry's Auror Squad, and on the understanding that any potential sentence be commuted from the Dementors Kiss to life imprisonment in Azkaban, Mr Pettigrew confessed to being a member of the Death Eaters, You-Know-Who's personal army of Dark wizards, and of performing the Cruentus curse - a variation on the Cruciatus curse - which resulted in the explosion that killed twelve innocent Muggles. In addition, Pettigrew also confessed to being James and Lily Potters' Secret Keeper, a position taken by him following the insistence of the Potters' much-maligned best friend, Sirius Black. As such, Pettigrew has been remanded into Ministry custody until the trial that is due to begin on 30th September this year.

Interviewed yesterday, Mr Malfoy said how disappointed he was in the Ministry's previous handling of the entire incident, but that he understood the extreme pressure the institution had been under during the war years. The Ministry now has the opportunity to see that justice is restored, but Mr Malfoy declined to comment on the rumour that he knows where Black is hiding or whether he thought it likely that Black would be seeking compensation from the Ministry following this outrageous miscarriage of justice.

The article then proceeded to re-cover the Potters' death, Harry's escape, Sirius' imprisonment without trial and subsequent escape, but he didn't read any further.

Instead of the euphoria he should have been feeling, he felt sick.

'Too good to be true, isn't it?'

'Isn't it just.' Sirius pushed the covers aside as he got up and reached for his robe.

Ariadne let the newspaper crumple into her lap. 'Is everything all right? I thought you'd be pleased.'

'I am.'

'So why do you look as though someone's just told you that they've cancelled the entire Quidditch season?'

'Do I?' He laughed as he pulled on his trousers. 'I don't mean to. I'm sorry. I'm just a bit worried. I'll be fine.' She looked on the verge of arguing with him again, but it was a subject he didn't want to continue. Not now anyway. So he changed it. 'Listen, I've been meaning to ask you, you couldn't bake one of those sponge-cakes you made the other day for Harry, could you? Only it's his birthday on Friday and - '

'What, now?'

'Well...not right now, but in time for Friday. I'm sorry, sweetheart, I know it's short notice, and I know I should have asked earlier, but I've had a lot on my mind and time just got away from me.'

'It's alright. Yes, of course I will. I'll put it into bake then I'll start gathering our things together so we can be ready to leave this evening when it turns dark.'

'Thank you, Ari,' he said. 'I could give you a hand if you want. '

'Oh Morgana and Merlin, no! It took me two hours to clean an exploded soufflé off the ceiling the last time I let you cook!' She smiled at him and took his hand. 'If you want something to distract you, why don't you go write a letter to Harry to go with that cake.'

He returned her smile, and touched the back of his finger to her cheek. 'I can't put anything by you, can I? '

'I really doubt it. I'll give you a shout when it's ready.'

Sirius pushed his hand through his hair and smiled with every bit of confidence he could muster as he opened the door. 'Good...okay. Thank you,' he said. He could already feel the nerves beginning to win the battle as his smile slipped and the knot moved from his stomach to the base of his throat.

They left Buckbeak in the Forbidden Forest. Although Ariadne hadn't seemed happy with the idea of attaching his harness to the trunk of one of the larger trees, Sirius hadn't wanted to risk him running off after a ferret and getting lost or caught. His markings would have had been registered by the Ministry by now so if someone were to see him, the consequences didn't bear thinking about. After much protesting and pulling at the harness on Buckbeak's part, he eventually calmed down with a little soothing from Ariadne - and a pile of dead chickens - to keep him happy. They left him settled onto a pile of leaf litter, his eyes already half closed, as they crossed the lake by boat.

It didn't take long - the weather was calm, the lake serene and a gentle wind helped the Locomotor charm Sirius had cast to move the boat across the water. When they landed, he helped Ariadne onto the shore and stood gazing up at the imposing façade of Hogwarts castle. The last time he had stood on the banks of the lake like this, he had still been wanted. He had imagined how it might feel to enter the castle again as a free man...

He had never imagined it would feel as bad as this.

He wasn't sure that telling Snape everything was the best course of action they might take - no matter what Malfoy might have told The Prophet. He knew that Snape had never liked him, innocent or not, and twelve years of hatred and blame for losing his sister had twisted his feelings into something much darker. Something that had almost gotten Sirius killed, and he had no doubt that Snape was still beating himself up over his failure.

As for Ari, he could tell by the way she was gripping his hand and the uncharacteristic silence with which she walked by his side as they crossed the bridge leading up to the castle gates that she felt just as apprehensive about seeing her brother again after so long as he did.

'Dumbledore's not expecting us, is he?' she asked, after Sirius had banged heavily on the ornate wooden door as they waited for a reply.

'No. But he knows we're here or we wouldn't have gotten past the wards. He doesn't miss much.'

Ariadne nodded.

Some scrapes, knocks and bangs accompanied the slow drawing back of the bolts on the other side of the door. When it opened, Filch's wizened old face appeared in the gap.

'Well, well, well…Sirius Black,' he spat. 'Always knew you were trouble, lad. Right from the moment you set foot in here. Was right too, wasn't I? Do you know how long it took me to fix the Fat Lady's portrait after what you did to it?'

'I apologise for that, Mr. Filch. I was frustrated and I lost my temper. I'm sure you could understand what frustration feels like.'

Sirius' dig at Filch's Squib status was rather cruel, but the tension unfolding in his stomach was making him tetchy and irritable as it was without Filch adding insult to injury by raking up an uncomfortable past. In any case, the comment appeared to have bypassed Filch.

'I had my way, you'd never set foot in this castle again. I don't care what The Prophet says. Evil, you are. Always were.'

'Then I suppose it's just as well for all of us that the decision does not rest with you and your opinions are of little consequence to me. May we speak with Professor Dumbledore, please?'

Filch muttered something under his breath as he picked up Mrs Norris, tucked the cat beneath his arm and stood aside for Sirius and Ariadne to enter.

'I really hope you don't use that sort of language around the students,' said Sirius as he passed him and headed towards the grand staircase in the entrance hall. 'I think we can find our own way up.'

Sirius had never been inside Hogwarts during the summer holidays before. Although his little gang had often remained there during the Christmas and Easter breaks when they'd been in school, none of them had ever wanted to stay over the long August hiatus. The place felt so very empty and cold without the bustle, noise and life provided by the presence of the students, teachers and even the ghosts - evidently they disappeared to haunt old friends and relatives during the break, too. The silence was eerie, broken only by the occasional whistling of the wind through the gaps and holes in the masonry and the regular ticking of their feet on the marble floor as they made their way up to Dumbledore's office.

'You okay?' Sirius asked Ariadne when they reached the base of the spiral staircase, protected by a statue of a phoenix. 'You've been very quiet.'

'I...don't know. It's been such a long time. So much has happened… No-one here, not even Professor Dumbledore, believed us all those years ago. This will be the first time I've seen him since then. I'm more afraid of him and what he'll think than I was of Malfoy.'

Sirius gave her a reassuring smile and put his arm around her. 'Everyone's a little afraid of Dumbledore. He's a good man, Ari. Forgiving. Understanding. You don't have anything to fear.'

She nodded, yielding to his embrace. 'I'll be all right. How are we going to get through here? Don't we need a password or something?'

Sirius was about to tell her that Dumbledore usually knew who was here to see him when the huge stone phoenix suddenly started to move, revealing the spiral staircase that led up to the office.

'I suppose not,' he replied.

Dumbledore's office looked very much as it had when they'd been students. Apart from a slightly thicker layer of dust and a few more piles of parchments and books in various places around the circular room, it was largely as it always had been. There was a comforting reassurance about that, Sirius thought. It was nice to know that when so much had changed through the years, some things had still stayed the same – right down to the gently snoring portrait of his great-great-grandfather, Phineas Nigellus.

'Ah, you've arrived safely,' said an old, calm, croaky sort of voice from the upper stage of the office.

They both turned to see Dumbledore descending the ornate iron staircase from the upper level of his personal library.

'Professor Dumbledore, sir, thank you for seeing us unannounced like this,' said Sirius, pulling off his leather gloves to shake the old wizard's hand.

Dumbledore smiled warmly as he accepted the handshake, then gestured for them to take the two chintz armchairs opposite his desk.

'It is quite alright, I assure you, Sirius. I should congratulate you on your recent extraordinary good fortune with regards to locating Peter. I have never known the Ministry to move with such...efficiency.'

Sirius was finding it very hard to look Dumbledore in the eye. He swallowed thickly at the tone in which that last word had been spoken and began to wish that they had just stayed at the cottage.

'Well, that's what we've come to see you about, sir. You remember Ariadne?'

'Of course,' he replied, offering her the same warm smile. 'It was most unfortunate that the Ministry saw fit to relieve you of your post, Ariadne. I am not too big a man to acknowledge that I, like the Ministry, was wrong in my judgement of you and Sirius, and I feel that an apology is in order. You and your brother were two of the most promising potions students this school has ever seen. It is very good to see you again after so long.'

'Thank you, sir,' she murmured. Not good memories for her; written so clearly in the pain in her eyes.

'With some luck, Professor, we're hoping that Ariadne will be able to get her position back. If our plans work out for us.'

'Oh? And what plans would these be, Sirius?' There was no malice or criticism implied in his tone now; merely mild concern and curiosity that made his clear blue eyes sparkle as though he already knew the answer to his question.

'Well,' Sirius started, but the words seemed to be harder to find now that he had to explain himself to someone whom he knew would disapprove. 'When I left here, I had nowhere to go. I'd already spent a year on the run and I was tired of constantly being on edge, jumping at whispers…the autumn is coming and I was…well… I thought that the safest place I could go, and still remain as close as possible to Harry, was Ariadne's.'

Sirius proceeded to tell Dumbledore everything - how he had been staying with Ariadne, how they had decided to try to prove his innocence, about the meetings, and now...what they had been asked to do. Dumbledore sat and listened patiently, but his bushy grey eyebrows seemed to knit together even further with each word that passed Sirius' lips until, in the end, the frown was unmistakable.

'The reason we're telling you all this, Professor, is to keep you informed of the motives behind our actions because we know that you are the one person who is in a position to be able to give this information to the Ministry's Auror Division. There is a man there - Elliot Seaworthy - I worked with him years ago before James and Lily…' He paused, swallowing thickly. 'During the first war…in covert operations. He was one of the very few people who believed my story when I was arrested, but it would have cost him his job and, because of his position, quite likely his life too if he'd spoken out. If you tell him, I know he can give us the buffer space we need.'

'You should have told me of this before, Sirius,' Dumbledore said gravely. 'I think that you are very much aware of the rumours that are currently in circulation regarding the speed with which you have been cleared, are you not?'

Sirius' stomach turned over and he tasted his breakfast at the back of his throat. Much of the worry he had been bearing on his shoulders over the past few days had been due to exactly that - how quickly everything seemed to have come together for him - and it didn't make him feel any better to know that other wizards had noticed that too.

'I am, sir,' he said, 'and I know I should have come to you sooner. I realise that my timing could have been better, but with the new war coming so quickly, and Harry's life being jeopardised so much already, I can't afford to just hideaway and wait for things to happen.'

'No,' Dumbledore smiled affectionately, 'neither you nor James were ever known for your patience. I understand the pressure you have been under to act, but it was foolish to take on forces that I seriously believe both of you are underestimating. Harry has always been perfectly safe under my care - and under the Dursleys', no matter what Harry may have told you about that. Lucius Malfoy is much wiser than you give him credit for, Sirius, and it would be a mistake to think that he is unaware of what you are doing. In fact, it is precisely because he is aware of your motives that he has asked you to do such a dreadful thing.'

'He knows?' said Ariadne desperately, turning to Sirius. 'But I thought that I'd...that we'd - '

'Why do you think I challenged him so hard? He would have been far more suspicious of me had I just sat back and remained quiet - he knows as well as you do that 'passive' is not a word in my vocabulary, Ari. I knew that this was likely to happen, but you wouldn't listen. I knew that we would have to prove ourselves. I just didn't think they would ask us to target your brother.'

Tears sparkled in her eyes, but there was no danger of them falling in front of Dumbledore. She wasn't angry with either of them, or even with herself. There was more a slow realisation dawning in her eyes of how deeply she truly was embroiled now and there was such a desperate terror in her eyes that Sirius wanted nothing more in that moment than to grab her hand and run, to take her far away from all this and never, ever look back.

'Would it have made a difference if it hadn't been him?'

'No, Ari. Of course not. But it would have been far easier to convince Malfoy that we had killed anyone else other than Severus. It is highly personal with them, and they won't be content just with his body. They want to see him suffer. That's what makes this so difficult.'

'Oh,' Ariadne cried, her hand covering her face, 'this is all my fault.'

'No, Ariadne,' Dumbledore replied kindly, 'it is not. Those of us who remember the first war know that Voldemort's true power lay not in the strength of his magic, but in his ability to cause doubt, fear and suspicion among friends. Without trust, we are unable to fight him. Sirius understands this more than most and I sincerely believe that he has done everything within his power to protect you, just as I have tried to protect Harry. Sometimes loving someone is the hardest thing in the world to do. It asks us to give the people we care about the freedom to make their own choices. And their own mistakes. We can only do so much before we have to let them go. Sirius knew how badly you wanted to make things right and he believed that he had the capability of facing whatever might have resulted from your actions, but I doubt that even he had anticipated the complications caused by this little thing that hampers us all from time to time: Love.'

Ariadne's gaze fell to her fingers, clasped tightly in her lap. Sirius wanted to take her hand or squeeze her shoulder or something to let her know that he understood, but he knew that in that moment, she needed to be alone.

Dumbledore stood up from his chair and walked over to where Fawkes, his phoenix, was perched on a gold stand. Gently, he stroked the bird beneath its beak and smiling as it raised its head and made soft cooing noises in the back of its throat.

'The fact that Pettigrew has been caught and made a confession runs greatly in your favour, Sirius,' Dumbledore continued. 'That may prove to be Malfoy's mistake. No matter what he may try to tell the Ministry now, they finally have evidence that you were innocent of the crimes for which you were imprisoned. I believe that I can do as you have asked and speak to Mr Seaworthy on your behalf, which should alleviate the concern of your actions being misunderstood.'

'Thank you, sir,' said Sirius, relief flooding his voice.

'However, I am afraid that a solution to your other problem may prove to be more elusive. How to convince Malfoy that you have carried out his order… He was quite insistent on Professor Snape being alive?'

'Yes, sir. The Death Eaters have their own methods of...punishment.' He trailed off with an anxious sideways glance at Ariadne. 'Snape's betrayal was of the highest order. They are not likely to forgive it.'

Ariadne made a strangled, low kind of moan in the back of her throat as her fingers started their repetitive, nervous dance again in her lap. Sirius reached over and covered them with his hand.

'I find it of grave concern that the Death Eaters have already progressed to a stage where they feel comfortable in organising targets for elimination. Voldemort must be gaining strength.'

'I agree, Professor, which is why the intelligence Ariadne and I could bring back to the Ministry is so important. We need their backing, but more than anything we need time, and we can't have that under the conditions that Malfoy has imposed.'

'No, of course. You say that they would prefer him taken alive, but would they accept him in death?'

'No!' Ariadne squealed as though she'd just been hit with an Incido curse. 'Dear god!'

'Calm yourself, Ariadne,' said Dumbledore, 'I do not mean for your brother to be harmed. If they will accept his body as proof that the deed has been done, even if not in the manner that they would have preferred, then there may be something that we can do that would not only save him, but prevent them from seeking him in the future.'

'How?'

'You have heard of the Draught of Living Death, have you not?'

Dumbledore left Fawkes and sat back down behind his desk.

'Of course,' she replied. 'It is an extremely complicated potion to make, requiring several very rare ingredients, some of which are, or used to be, illegal. Not to mention that some of those who have taken it when improperly prepared enter a sleep so deep that they never wake up. The herbs can be toxic in the wrong doses.'

'But if anyone is capable of brewing it, you are,' Dumbledore smiled, his blue eyes shining like the ocean at sunrise. 'As is your brother. Perhaps, it is time to discuss the matter with him.'

For the first time since they had entered the office, Ariadne looked up, a fragile smile touching the corners of her mouth. 'Severus is here? He didn't go home for the summer?'

'He is still here for the moment, but he intends, I believe, to spend the majority of the summer at home. He does not usually reveal much of his plans to me. Severus is a man who greatly values his privacy.'

'Good to know some things never change,' said Sirius.

Ariadne didn't hear him or if she did, she was ignoring him. 'Is he in the dungeon?'

Dumbledore bowed his head. 'You are welcome to go down if you wish to see him.'

'Oh…no, that's alright,' said Ariadne. 'It's been a long time and - '

'There is no time like the present, and we never know just how much of the present may be left. Go.'

She sighed and glanced at Sirius. He shrugged.

'Go ahead,' he replied to her unuttered question. 'I'd be content if I never saw the miserable, greasy little bastard again.'

'Sirius,' Dumbledore warned.

Sirius shrugged again, which the most he could offer towards an apology. 'You know where I am if you need me, Ari.'

She nodded.

'We will give you some time and follow you down later,' said Dumbledore.

'Thank you, Professor.' She cast one more glance at Sirius, perhaps hoping that he would change his mind, but he knew that this was something she needed to do on her own.

'She's been through so much already,' Sirius sighed after she had left, 'I hope he's not going to make things more difficult for her. He's a supercilious asshole at the best of times.'

'Severus has always gone his own way. He has suffered too, in his turn, although you will never hear him admit to it. I believe that he would benefit greatly from knowing his sister again. As much as she would benefit from knowing him. She will need your support, Sirius.'

'She has it. She always has. I just wish that I could have been there to show her that. So much of what's happened with her family is my fault…I've let so many people down.' He sighed, but forced a smile as he looked up. 'I'm sorry, sir. You don't need to hear me feeling sorry for myself.'

'It is quite alright,' Dumbledore smiled. 'I think, under the circumstances, we can forgive you a little self-pity. But I do think a short break might be in order. How would you like to take a stroll around the castle? Revisit some old stomping grounds, perhaps?'

Sirius smiled gratefully. 'That would be good. Great. Thank you.'