Several hours before Arielle stepped in the Hog's Head, Sirius finished lunch, got up slowly his seat. He went upstairs and opened the door of bathroom. Though he didn't noticed, Remus found him going out of the kitchen and walked after him. Leaving the door open, he faced to the mirror of a gaudily decorated washstand which was now covered with a decade of dust.
"Lumos," he took out his wand and put it by the snake-shaped tap. His face got lit from below, which made the shadows on it much clearer. He heaved a deep sigh. And, then, he saw the figure of a man in the mirror.
"What's wrong? She's coming, why so gloomy?" asked Remus cheerfully.
"Ah... I got so wasted, didn't I?" Sirius heaved one more sigh.
"I'm sure she won't care," Remus tapped him on his shoulder to cheer him up. "But make sure you brush your teeth if you want to kiss her," Remus said, and had a fit of giggles. On the previous night he'd given Sirius a tube of Snow-White Toothpaste he'd got at Diagon Alley. Sirius grinned and flashed his white teeth.
"They've got white as though replaced all," Sirius looked into the mirror. "But I still remember what she said—when I asked her why she liked me," said Sirius quietly, a bit disappointedly too. "Not once. I asked her many times—and she'd often answered mischievously—''Cause you're 'handsome', Sirius.'"
Remus raised his eyebrows. "D—did you really take at word, Sirius?"
"Her answer was always same—no matter how many times I asked," said Sirius quite seriously. "I know she was joking—but—I've just remembered—so—"
Remus flashed a smile. "I know, Sirius, she let out to me—when she was in St Mungo's." Sirius's face clouded just for a moment, to hear the word 'St Mungo's.' "Interesting, very, very interesting."
"To you?" Sirius looked away from the mirror, and gazed at Remus's eyes as though checking whether he was lying. "Then what did she say?"
"Ask her," Remus was enjoying his reaction. "But I'll bet she won't tell you... But don't worry, Sirius. Arielle truly loves you."

Ten minutes to six in evening, Arielle and Mad-Eye Apparated on a poorly kept grass. It was in the middle of a small square in a shady street. She looked around the street. Broken windows, streetlights glimmering dully, and paint peeling from doors—the surrounding houses were far from welcoming her. She wrinkled her eyebrows and asked to Mad-Eye.
"Where're we? What a gloomy—"
"Quiet," whispered Mad-Eye, feeling about the pocket. She decided to say nothing until he talked to her.
"No, no... Got it." He rummaged in the pocket of his cloak and raised something like a silver cigarette lighter; Arielle knew what it was. He clicked Dumbledore's Put-Outer to extinguish all the streetlight and again put it to the pocket. Then they heard loud cracks behind; the other member of the Order had just Apparated.
"Hurry, Arielle," said Mad-Eye, walking towards somewhere. Arielle and the others just followed him. As they reached on a pavement outside of number eleven, Mad-Eye again took out something from the pocket and passed it to her. It was a note on a small piece of parchment; she'd seen the narrow handwriting before, also, heard of the street's name.

The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London.

"Memorise?" grunted Mad-Eye.
"I did," whispered Arielle.
"Burn it!"
Arielle pulled out her wand from the pocket of her robe and burned the parchment. She saw again the houses they were facing. In the left of number eleven, there was number ten; in the right, number thirteen.
"Think about it," said Remus behind her.
Number twelve, Grimmauld Place—as she thought about it, number twelve emerged between number eleven and number thirteen, pushing them to either side. It was a house with dirty walls and grimy windows and looked deserted for decades. Arielle and Mad-Eye walked up the worn stone steps and others followed them behind. Arielle saw the entrance door whose paint was terribly scratched as those of other houses in Grimmauld Place. It had neither a keyhole nor doorknob; only a silver doorknocker in the form of a twisted serpent.

She got startled to see its form; she did hate snakes or serpents even though her mother and eldest sister were Slytherins. That was why she strongly asked the Sorting Hat not to sort herself to Slytherin; the Sorting Hat just replied her and announced loudly: 'Nonsense to sort you into Slytherin... GRYFFINDOR!"

"Tap it with your wand," whispered Mad-Eye next to her. She raised her wand and tapped the door once. After many metallic clicks and clatters, the door cracked open.
It was an almost total darkness. She smelled dusty and rotten. She looked around with a light on the end of her wand, and found it an entrance hall and lamps along the walls. As she traced and aimed her wand at all the lamps, the hall got dimly lighted.
"Don't forget to keep your voice down here, Arielle."
"Why?" She thought it should be a kind of miracle if she could burst out laughing in the dark, gloomy hall.
"Because the portraits are never friendly to us," said Remus quietly. "Not to wake anything up."
Others were stepping in the hall; Mad-Eye releasing the balls of lights Put-Outer had stolen on the top step.
She looked around the hall again from top to bottom; she got choked for a moment to see both chandelier and candelabra shaped like serpents. The portraits were hung crooked, and she heard something like spiders scurrying behind them.
"Everyone's waiting for you in the kitchen, downstairs, Arielle." Tonks whispered to Arielle, going ahead of her.
"He's there too," said Remus. "He's been fidgety since he knew you're coming."
Arielle knew whom they mentioned. She'd never seen his face for fourteen years, since he'd sent to Azkaban. What will he say to see me?—she thought. He'd often given me a big hug and kiss instead of saying "I'm home." —
The seven members of the Order quietly walked through the hall. Remus was at the head of the line; Tonks and Arielle followed him next, the other three did behind them and Mad-Eye at the rear. Passing the row of house-elf heads on the wall, she thought they made the house even more eerie. Remus opened the door to downstairs at the very end of the entrance hallway.

CRASH—Tonks tripped over something, and Arielle also did and fell over Tonks, who was lying flat on the floor. Not expecting at all she'd fall, Arielle lay prostrated; she terribly bumped her head onto the floor. Her wand tumbled on the dusty, mould carpet.
"Ouch!"
Something like an umbrella stand fell onto Arielle's ankle.
"I'm sorry!" said Tonks, looking at Arielle lying and suffering. "That's the third time I've tripped over this umbrella stand...!" Tonks flicked her wand and removed it.
It was the moment Tonks gave her hand to Arielle that a horrible, ear-splitting scream echoed through the whole hallway, which froze her blood.
The moth-eaten velvet curtains they'd passed a little while before drawn apart. She put her hand onto her aching head sitting up on the floor, and looked at the portrait between the opened curtains in the dim light.
She felt it as though she was the ugliest woman in the world; the old woman in the portrait was screaming and screaming showing the white of her eyes. Her yellowish skin was drawn with anger. Arielle was paralysed with terror covering her ears.
The others gave up tagging the curtains; they were stunning other portraits that had woken up her scream.

"Filth! One more scum! Abomination! Mutant! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers? I do know you, Arielle Mane! The last living Mane, range of blood traitors! Go away! Sharing a great-great-great-great grandmother? Shame of my flesh!"

The old woman's words upset her completely. She couldn't take eyes off with her lips trembling. She remembered people's doubts, looks, and roars towards her fourteen years ago.

"Yes, yes, see, Witch Weekly says Arielle Mane was the murderer's fiancée!"
"Arielle Mane seemed to have a cousin who was a Death Eater! She was one too?"

I—never—yield—to—the—dark—side—Arielle's eyes were brimming with tears.

Suddenly, a man with long black hair appeared.
"Shut up, you horrible old hag!" he roared, grasping the curtain. "SHUT UP!"
"Yooooooooou! Blood traitor! Abomination! A mutant, no eyes for women—" she howled.
"I said SHUT UP! Where can we find a scum like you? Eh? Arielle's can't compare with you! She's much far better than you! I'm so proud of her from the bottom of my heart!"
He roared like a dog. Arielle burst into tears, crawled and pulled his robe.
"Sorry, sorry..., sir..."
She was overwhelmingly pained, grieved, and lonesome. She felt embarrassed to sob in public. She crouched down by the wall.
"Remus, please!"
"Yeah."
The man and Remus tagged the curtain to shut up with their all might.
"Hey, Arielle."
She just shook her neck.
"Don't care what the hag said," he squatted next to her and tapped her shoulders. But she didn't nod her head—she hadn't realised yet—
"All right, Arielle."
The man picked up her wand and had her hold it. As he looked behind, the members of the Order who brought her were all smiling to him. He also smiled to them showing his gratitude on his face.
"Everyone's waiting for you, Arielle. Molly is eager in cooking... to welcome you. Nobody hurts you here. She's just a portrait and dead."
He rubbed her back, and again looked back and winked at Remus.
"Your hands are not to wipe tears. Here you are."
"T—thank you."
He lent his handkerchief to her. She held it to her tearful face. Her tears soaked into it; she smelled something she'd ever smelled before.
The blurred figure got clear. She'd seen the design before, too. And she saw his figure come in front of her.
"Don't you remember—my voice, warmth air or smell? Or the wonderful, first present from you? I've always carried this since you gave it to me... my love?"

The word he added made her pull herself together.
My love?—there's only one who could say the words to her.
She looked up at last; she saw the pin of a four-leaf clover on his lapel.

"S—Sirius?"
"Arielle!"

Time froze. His grey eyes caught her deep-blue eyes.
The man—Sirius lifted up Arielle and held her tightly as though her rubs got broken. She shed tears again, but they were tears of joy.
People gathered at the hall now; Remus and Tonks were clapping hands, so did others. Mad-Eye was just nodding, murmuring "Good, good..." Fred and George were whistling; Harry, Ron and Arthur were all smiles. Ginny, Hermione and Molly were even having tears on their eyes.
"Sirius... Sirius!"
"I'm sorry, Arielle. I gave you trouble... I can never apologise you enough. And I'm so relieved—to see you're alive..."
"I'm... so happy... to meet you... again..."
He kissed Arielle in his arms, as though showing to the spectators.

It was the first kiss for fourteen years, which was the sweetest and deepest he'd ever given to her.