When I reported to the Ministry I found Kingsley Shaklebolt in Rufus Scrimgeour's office. I knocked gently on the door as Scrimgeour's voice echoed loudly from within the room.

"You've lost two of your Aurors—"

"Actually, we're both accounted for," I said entering the office. Scrimgeour's face turned beat red with anger as I entered the room. I walked in and stopped next to Kingsley who was standing in front of Scrimgeour's desk. I crossed my hands in front of me and looked at Scrimgeour with a frank smile.

"Cutting it a bit close, don't you think?" Kingsley muttered.

"I was at St. Mungo's with Gabriel," I said with an apologetic tone. "I found him at his house unconscious. Someone beat the shit out of him."

Kingsley and Scrimgeour both were frowning now. "Any ideas who attacked him?" Scrimgeour asked.

"No, Sir," I said.

"How bad is it?" Kingsley asked.

"He's still unconscious," I replied. "The Healer thinks he'll be fine. Should be up by the end of the day."

Scrimgeour was looking at his desk with large grim eyes. He seemed incredibly bothered by the situation. "Not many people would get the jump on Gabriel," he said.

"Yes, Sir," I said agreeing.

"Then you know how concerning this is to me," Scrimgeour continued.

"I understand," I nodded. "I was planning on heading over to the house to see if I missed anything. When I was there earlier I did see any trace of magic in the destruction, but I was focused on Gabriel, I could have missed something."

"Alright," Scrimgeour said with a sigh as he rubbed his face. "Get over there, figure out what happened."

"Can I go back to see Gabriel tonight, Sir?"

"Check in with Kingsley first," Scrimgeour said pointing to Kingsley. "Find out what happened, report in, then go see Gabriel."

I nodded. "Alright." I turned before another word could be said and left the office. As I made my way out of the Ministry the only thing I could think was it was a good thing Carrigan was away at school. I wouldn't have been able to manage this mess with her at home and no one to watch her. She may have been old enough to be left at home alone, but call me over-protective, I wasn't going to leave my daughter home alone when her Father, a notorious mass-murderer, was on the lose.

I got into Gabriel's house the same way I had before, but now it was late enough for the sun to be setting behind the house. As I entered the kitchen my booted feet stepped on broken glass interrupting the quiet of the house as I entered. I sighed and looked around the dark kitchen. The table was flipped on its side, chairs were knocked over, dishes broken, the stove smashed and cabinets ripped open. I stepped around the room looking closely at the destruction trying to figure out where the fight began. I followed a trail of broken glass across the kitchen to the swinging door that lead to the dinning room. When I pushed through the door I saw that this room was also destroyed. The dinning room table was smashed as if someone had been thrown on it and as I bent over it, something glinted in the setting sun light. I moved forward, stepping on the table and causing it to creek. I reached out and knocked some broken wood out of the way, picking up a small glass tube. Inside the tube was a thin sliver of bluish silver rock. I recognized it immediately; the sight of the charm caused my heart to drop into my stomach and my head to spin.

The sliver of rock was a piece of the star Sirius from the dog constellation in the winter sky. I had made the necklace for Sirius as a Christmas gift in our seventh year. If this necklace was here in the dinning room that meant that Sirius Black was the person who attacked Gabriel and left him in a comma on the kitchen floor.

Without realizing it my blood was boiling through my entire body. The room around me began to shake with my anger and a gigantic crack broke through the wooden floor boards as if an earth quake was breaking it.

"Cadence," said a voice.

I stood up straight from my bent position instantly and turned, my cloak whipping around me in a dramatic fashion. My eyes fell upon the tall skinny figure of Sirius Black. He stood before me, in the front sitting room of Gabriel's house, in dirty baggy black and white Azkaban robes with a black cloak pulled over them. His shirt was opened half down his chest, revealing his skinny thin chest and the dove tattoo over his heart—a tattoo for me. I bet he regretted getting that inked into his skin. His long black hair was thin and matted, and his face was covered in a thick beard. Despite his ugly appearance his midnight blue eyes were still handsome. The shade of his eyes matched the bluish tint of the sliver in the necklace I had made him. That was the shade of my daughter's eyes; of Sirius' daughter's eyes. They held my gaze for a few moments before a fire of hatred lit in my heart.

I marched across the destroyed dinning room and into the living room. Sirius stood his ground as I approached him. I pulled my fist back as I balled it and slammed it straight into his jaw. When my fist made contact with his skin, Sirius grabbed me around the waist, lifting me up and slamming me against the closest wall. I groaned as he dropped me and I slid down the wall to the ground. He made to move away but I screamed in anger and lifted my foot harshly into his groin. The strike completely caught him off guard, and he keeled over, grabbing his groin. I kicked his stomach and then his face, knocking him until he was lying on the ground.

"Cadence! Stop!" he yelled as I begin to sob.

"You killed them!" I screamed grabbing his collar and straddling him to pin him to the ground. "You turned them over like they were nothing!"

"Shut up!" he threw me off of him—catching me off guard. I hadn't expected him to have such strength considering his fragile appearance and me just kicking the crap out of him. I groaned as I fell on the side with my damaged ribs. I bit my bottom lip with annoyance. I had just stopped wearing that stupid torso brace and now Sirius had damaged my ribs again. "You don't know what you're talking about!"

I didn't know what I was talking about? What the hell was he talking about? Before Sirius could move far away from me I conjured a dagger and rolled towards him. I placed the dagger against his throat as he sat up, which caused him to freeze on spot. We were both gasping for breath as we sat on the sitting room floor. Sirius was looking me up and down.

"You look good," he finally said after the long awkward silence that had fallen between us.

"Shut up!" I snapped. "You're lucky I don't kill you now!"

"You won't kill me, Cadence," he said wisely. "We both know that. You may be capable of it, but you won't. That would make you no better then me."

"No. I'm not like you," I shook my head. "But killing you would be justified."

Sirius shrugged slightly, making me sick.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I snapped.

"I came to visit," he said keeping a calm tone. "I figured you and Gabriel were shacking up—"

I punched him clean across the face, so hard that he fell back against the wall. I began to stand up, and Sirius lunged forward, knocking me over to the ground again. Gabriel would have been disappointed with how easily I let my guard down. Sirius stole the dagger from my hand and pinned me to the ground. I looked up at him with fear as he raised the dagger over his head.

Fear filled my entire body—this wasn't right—I shouldn't die like this. The floor began to shake underneath me, but that didn't seem to distract Sirius. He swung the dagger swiftly down and I let out a small scream. The knife stabbed into the wooden floor, catching my shirt and pinning me down. I sighed with relief as Sirius stood up.

"I wouldn't kill you Cadence," he said shaking his hands as he cracked his neck. "Just like you wouldn't kill me." He turned away from me and grew silent for a moment. "I could never kill anyone. I can't have you following me. I'm sorry about Gabriel. I bloodied him up pretty bad—just returning the favor he paid me." I pulled at the dagger by my side, but it was stuck into the floor board pretty deep. I sighed with frustration and glared at Sirius. "Good bye."

He Disapparated from the living room with a loud crack. It was like he had never been there—as if I had a bad dream and we hadn't just fought—I screamed in outrage and yanked the dagger from the floor. I sat up and looked down at the hole in my shirt and cloak, cursing under my breath. Well, I had found out who attacked Gabriel. Finding Sirius had only provided more questions, not answers.

Scrimgeour was not happy with my report when I check in at the Ministry before returning to St. Mungo's. He had been afraid that Sirius Black was responsible for attacking Gabriel, but he had also hoped he wouldn't be right. He seemed concerned with my safety, but I refused any protection from him—because I refused protection he benched me. I was no longer to report to work. I was so angry with his decision I left his office, I didn't even argue.

When I arrived at St. Mungo's it was almost ten o'clock at night. I walked through the lobby, heading straight for the corridor that led to Gabriel's examine room. I entered the room and was surprised to see that it was empty. For a moment alarm shot through my system. I turned to leave the room and ran straight into Healer Marcus' chest. I almost went falling backwards, but Marcus grabbed me around my waist and held me tight, catching me between his arms and chest.

"Donovan," I said surprised.

"Cadence, you okay?" he asked release me as I stood up straight. I sighed and fixed my cloak.

"No," I shook my head. "Where is Gabriel?"

"He's upstairs in a ward," Marcus said. "He's awake if you'd like to see him."

"Yes," I said quickly as Marcus led me out of the room. "I need to speak to him, right away."

"He still needs to rest, Cadence," Marcus said with a serious tone. "I don't know how much you can put on him right now."

We entered the private ward and stopped short of the entrance. I raised my eyebrows at the bed where Gabriel lie, sitting up and stroking the cheek of the pretty Healer Jennifer that I had seen earlier that day. She was sitting on the side of his bed, leaning towards him. I turned to Marcus, crossing my arms over my chest as I raised my eyebrows.

"I think he can handle me talking to him," I said smartly. Marcus smirked.

"Perhaps he can," he smiled at me in return. I nodded and moved forward.

"Excuse me," I said with a harsh tone to Jennifer. "Could you excuse us, please?"

Jennifer looked uncomfortable and stood up and Gabriel's dark purple eyes gave me an all knowing sharp glare. I gave him a firm smile.

"Don't be threatened by Cadence, Jennifer," he said squeezing the Healer's hand.

"Jennifer," said Marcus. I glanced at him as he nodded his head at the door. "I need to speak to you."

"I'm not threatening," I responded harshly to Gabriel. I held up the glass tube of Sirius' necklace and his face fell as he looked at me. "We have bigger issues then you flirting."

Jennifer gave me a nasty look as he walked out of the ward. I watched her as she left, not feeling threatened by her pretty little blonde head. I turned to Gabriel and raised my eyebrows at him.

"We need to talk," I said seriously.

"Yea, I got that impression," Gabriel said with a nod of his head. I took the spot where Jennifer had been sitting on the bed and crossed my arms over my lap. Gabriel looked better—first of all he was awake, and second he had been cleaned up and healed. There was color back in his face and blood no longer stained his flesh.

"First of all, Jennifer is younger then I am," I said motioning to the door.

Gabriel rolled his eyes and smiled at me, reaching out and stroking my cheek.

"Age is just a number darling," he said with that charming smirk. My heart melted at the sight of his smile and velvet purple eyes. I was just happy to see him awake and acting like his normal self. Gabriel's hand slid down my cheek and rested on my neck. His fingers played with my long curls; he twirled them around his fingers. "Are you going to let me kiss you, or is that going to ruin your pending relationship with the good Healer?"

"What?" I snipped. "I don't have a pending relationship with Donovan."

Gabriel laughed out loud and shook his head as he smiled. "Ah, Cadence. You're always good for a laugh."

"Ha, thanks," I snapped slapping his hand away from my hair. Gabriel gave me a soft smile as he caught my hand in his then lifted to his lips. I let him kiss my fingers once before pulling my hand from his grasp. "Tell me what happened, Gabriel."

Gabriel looked at me with embarrassment and sighed. "Sirius was at the house."

"How'd he get the slip on you?" I asked confused.

"I don't know," Gabriel shrugged. "I came home after taking you to the Ministry and he was waiting. He said he wanted to talk to me."

"About what?"

Gabriel looked at me like I was dumb. "About what happened twelve years ago. Remember how I told you when I arrested him he kept going on and on that he was innocent. That he wasn't the Potters' secret-keeper, someone else was."

I nodded as I studied Gabriel with serious eyes. I wasn't sure where these thoughts were going to lead us, and honestly I was a little scared. Sirius had broken out of Azkaban because he was innocent? That was just ridiculous. He had been the Potters' secret keeper—who else would have? He was their first choice.

"He didn't want to be their secret keeper," I whispered looking at the ground. I bit my bottom lip as my stomach did a flip and ambivalence rose up in me. Was I actually going to say I believed Sirius?

"Cadence?" Gabriel said my name and took my hand. "What are you thinking?"

"I don't know," I whispered with some nervousness in my voice. "I don't really know what I'm thinking right now. He didn't kill me in your house though—"

"What?" Gabriel shook his head confused. "My house? You saw him?"

"Yea," I nodded. "And he had the chance to kill me but he didn't. Don't you think a mass murderer would kill me if he had the chance?"

"No," Gabriel said. "Murderers kill for a reason. And in Sirius' twisted mind he probably can't kill you. You're the daughter of his leader and you're his ex love. He couldn't kill you."

"He could kill me out of revenge," I said. "I did turn down his marriage proposal after all."

"Maybe Sirius has moved on from that."

"Ah," I said with a smile and nodded. "Sirius Black is an evolved man now. I guess twelve years in Azkaban did some good if he's forgiven me for turning him down."

Gabriel looked at me closely. "But twelve years has not done you any good," he whispered.

"What?"

Gabriel gave me an all knowing smile. "Cadence," he said my name very gently. "You still love him."

I frowned. "I will always love him."

This response did not seem to please or bother Gabriel. He kept such a straight face I couldn't tell what he was thinking. He always did that. He was a master at disguising his emotions and thoughts—of all the things he had taught me, I wish he had taught me how to do that.

"Cadence," he said very seriously.

"Even if I do love him still," I said quickly interrupting him. "That doesn't change what happened, Gabriel. Sirius and I are a thing of the past. We were over long before he went to Azkaban. You know that."

Gabriel nodded his head slowly. His beautiful lips spread into a wicked smile that made my heart melt. In his purple eyes I could see a familiar passionate gleam. My heart skipped a beat and I looked at him curiously.

"What?" I asked as I tucked my hair behind my ear.

"I just was thinking about kissing you," he shrugged.

"Oh," I frowned. "Of course."

"Cadence," Gabriel said my name carefully. I looked at him with dark serious eyes and he smiled. He took my hands and squeezed them gently. "Thank you."

"For?"

"Finding me," he said. "You saved my life."

I rolled my eyes. "You're welcome," I said. "It's not a big deal. You'd do the same for me."

"I would," he nodded in agreement.

"Gabriel, you haven't told me what you and Sirius fought about," I said slowly. "So, he wanted to talk—who threw the first punch?"

"I did," Gabriel said. "I usually have a good temper. It takes a lot to get under my skin, but Sirius always gets under my skin."

"He does because of me," I whispered looking down. "Gabriel since I was fifteen you've only lost your temper when it concerned me, our relationship or my safety."

Gabriel smiled and nodded his head. "We can't help it, Cadence."

"I know," I responded. "What did he say?"

"Just asked if the sex was good," Gabriel replied after a moment of hesitation.

"You don't have to defend my honor."

"It's not fair that he assumes those things," Gabriel shook his head.

"I think to some extent it is," I shrugged. "We've been in love for a long time Gabriel. I was having an emotional affair with you. I should have left Sirius a long time before he left me."

"If you had left him," Gabriel's deep husky voice spoke slowly. "Would we have been together?"

"I don't know," I shrugged. "Sometimes I'm afraid of being with you. I'm afraid of how fate will punish us more. We weren't supposed to love each other, we did and Jennifer died because of it. Now we're cursed to always be reliant on the other."

"Is that such a bad thing when we love each other?" he asked wisely.

I looked at his dark purple eyes and felt my body melt a little. No, I thought to myself. It wasn't a bad thing at all. As a matter of fact I wanted to throw my body on top of Gabriel's at that moment; kiss him slowly, let him touch me all over, hold him and make love to him.

"But image what would happen if we were together?" I whispered sadly.

"I know," he nodded. He reached out and touched my cheek. "I know this as close as I'm going to get."

"Gabriel," I sighed leaning into his palm. I kissed it gently and took his hand, holding it in my lap. "I love you."

He gave me a charming smile and squeezed my hand, then pulled me towards him. I couldn't help but smile as he pulled me up the bed and into his arms. He kissed my forehead and tilted my head up to his, setting soft kisses on my lips. I sighed slightly against him and laid my head in the crook of his neck.

"I think, Cadence," he whispered. "Whether either of us will admit it or not, we are involved."

"Of course we are," I agreed as he stroked my hair. "We're involved in a complex relationship that involves us spending the rest of our lives together. But Gabriel, I am not your girlfriend nor will I ever be."

"Maybe we should just skip to wife," he joked.

I punched him in the stomach and he groaned. "You can't beat up on me when I'm injured!"

"Well you deserved it," I retorted. Gabriel grabbed my wrist and held it tight as his other arm was wrapped around me.

"I would never marry you," he said. "You're too intolerable."

"Yea, you're one to talk," I hissed. Gabriel laughed and leaned down, kissing me again. He pulled away slowly and his dark purple eyes stared into mine. I couldn't tell what he was thinking. His dark look was near perfection; handsome in everyway imaginable; the only thing I could think was that I was fool for not giving myself to him—for not being with him or being his. As usual, I was a fool.

"You need to rest," I whispered pulling away and breaking our tender stare. Gabriel laid back on his pillow as I stood up from the bed. "Healer Marcus doesn't think you're strong enough to go home yet."

"Yes, I know," Gabriel sighed. "I don't like being here though."

"Ha!" I laughed. "Now you know how I felt all those times I was stuck in bed and you paraded around like you owned the world."

"You like that the roles are reversed?" he smiled.

"Yea," I said nodding as I straightened my cloak. "I think I do."

"Don't get used to it."

I gave him a warning glare and he smiled more broadly. "I'm leaving tomorrow whether they think I should or not," he said.

"That doesn't shock me. In the mean time, I'm going to try and figure out what Sirius Black is up to."

"He's after Harry," Gabriel said. "I'm sure of it."

I frowned as I bit my bottom lip. "I'm not so sure," I whispered. "I'm still stuck on the fact that he didn't kill me today."

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "I hope you're not relying on some false hope that he's innocent, Cadence."

His comment made my stomach tighten a little. Of course I wasn't hoping Sirius was innocent—that would mean all these years of hating him were over nothing and I was a fool again. I didn't like it when I was put in a foolish position. I was fooled enough by Sirius…him actually being innocent was the last thing I needed. I'm sure he'd turn it around on me like he turned everything else around. He'd be upset that I never believed him…that I gave up on him even though he left me…

"I'm surprised he didn't bring anything of our past up," I whispered suddenly.

"Why?"

"I thought he'd be more upset with me," I shrugged. "I thought he'd kill me because he hates me."

"I think he has bigger plans on his agenda then killing you," Gabriel said. "He's going after Harry."

"I guess we'll have to do our jobs and find out," I retorted. "I'll see you tomorrow morning. I'll come get you from this place."

"Thank you," he said with a sigh of relief. I bid Gabriel one last good bye, then turned and exited the private ward. I walked down the corridor towards the staircase that led back to the main floor lobby. As I descended the stairs, Marcus met me coming up them.

"Ah, Cadence," he said. "I was just coming up to check on you and Gabriel. Is everything alright?"

"Yes," I nodded. "He's fine. He wants to leave tomorrow though. I'll be back in the morning to take him home."

"I'd advise against that, but it doesn't seem like Gabriel is the type of man to listen to my professional opinion anyways."

I smiled at Marcus' handsome eyes and nodded my head. "No, he isn't."

"Alright then," he beamed. "May I ask you a question Cadence?"

"Yes, of course," I said as we began to descend the stairs.

"I was wondering if you'd like to go out sometime," he said slowly. "Maybe to get a bite to eat, or drinks?"

I stopped dead on the stairs and looked at Marcus with bewildered eyes. Not many men had ever asked me out. First off, I didn't date when I lived in America. Sirius was my first boyfriend and no one asked me out because everyone knew I was dating him. Secondly, my reputation as Voldemort's daughter kind of turned guys off. Then lastly, after Sirius left I always had Gabriel and Carrigan. I didn't need anyone else. Being asked out by Marcus was very flattering, but I didn't know how to respond. I was socially challenged.

"I—I," was all I could muster.

"I'm sorry," Marcus said with a frown. "It was inappropriate of me to ask considering the situation. Forgive me."

"No," I said quickly as he turned to head back up the stairs. "No, Donovan I'm sorry. My social skills are impaired, I'm sorry. I'm not interested though. I'm just…well I like being single. It's easier for me that way. I'm sorry. I'm very flattered that you asked."

Marcus nodded. "Alright. Well it was a pleasure, Cadence." He bowed his head and turned away form me, marching up the stairs towards the floor that Gabriel's ward was on.

I slapped my hand to my head as I turned and finished walking down the stairs. Why did I always refuse perfectly decent men? Did I have that high of standards that I didn't think any man was good enough for me? Or did I have that low of self-worth that I thought I wasn't good enough for any man? I sighed as I passed through the lobby in a half daze because I was thinking so intently on the situation that had just occurred. No, it wasn't either of those reasons. It was because my life was complicated already. And I had learned the hard way, from Sirius, that it was better to be alone. If I didn't depend on anyone emotional then I wouldn't emotionally get hurt. It's only those closest to you that can hurt you. I was tired of letting people hurt me. First my Mother, then my Father and finally Sirius. Nope. No more hurt.