We were starting to finish up dinner that evening and Gabriel still hadn't arrived at Number Twelve. It was causing me a great deal of anxiety. It should not have taken him this long to get everything sent off. Most of the stuff in the house was already packed and he no doubt would have used magic to pack the rest of the things.

After the kitchen had been cleaned, and the children returned upstairs, I sat around the table with Molly and Arthur Weasley, Sirius and Remus. I was tapping the table uneasily as Remus poured fire whiskey for himself, Sirius and Arthur. Molly had gotten herself some tea.

"Cadence?"

I looked up at Remus with bewilderment. "Yes?"

"Would you like some whiskey?"

"Yes," I nodded. As Remus poured me the shot of whiskey, I glanced at the clock on the wall across the kitchen.

"I'm sure he's fine," Sirius said easily while watching me. "He's a big boy. He can take care of himself."

"Cadence," Remus said my name, motioning to the shot in front of me. I picked it up and took the hit easily. I squinted my eyes once it was down. The hot fiery taste burned all the way down my throat and into my stomach. I flipped my shot glass over and placed it lightly on table.

"And yet about two years ago, you somehow got the slip on him," I whispered. "You managed to beat him to a pulp and knock him unconscious."

"Well, I am a surprising person," Sirius retorted before taking his shot. He looked to Remus and lifted his empty shot glass. Remus leaned across the table, pushing the bottle of fire whiskey to Sirius. I flipped my glass and pushed it to Sirius, who poured me another shot.

"Try not to worry, Cadence," Molly said as she took her seat next to her husband. Her tea was stemming in front of her. "I'm sure Gabriel is just being thorough with your things. He wants to make sure you have everything for your new home when you find it."

"Thanks, Molly," I whispered. I took the shot that Sirius had poured me with out question. I felt everyone's eyes on me, which made my skin crawl with discomfort. I put the shot glass down again and wiped my lips on the back of my hand. "What time is the meeting tomorrow night?"

"Five o'clock," Arthur responded. "We'll have to make sure the children stay upstairs. And that Fred and George don't use those clever ease-dropping strings they created."

"They created non-sense," Molly muttered with a shake of her head as she stood up. Sirius had poured two more shots of whiskey, one for him and one for me. Molly picked up the bottle of fire whiskey and moved away from the table to put it away.

I frowned before taking the next shot Sirius had poured for me. Sirius looked perturbed that Molly had taken the alcohol away, but he didn't voice his annoyance. Remus glanced between the two of us.

"How is Carrigan doing?"

"She's fine," I responded.

"She didn't seem fine at dinner," Arthur whispered.

"She's just having a hard time with Voldemort's return," Sirius said. "And Cadence's near death experience two months ago."

"Her reality has been laid out before her," said a voice.

We all turned to look at the staircase where Benjamin Snow was standing with his arms crossed over his chest. He was standing on the last step before entering the basement.

"If I may?" he asked before stepping down into the basement.

"Yes, Benjamin, you may," Remus said waving him forward.

"Has Gabriel arrived yet?"

"No," I frowned as I sat up straight and leaned forward in my chair. "Why do you ask?"

"There is something I would like to speak to you, Sirius and Gabriel about," he said as he looked at everyone else in the room. "I'm sorry, can I speak to Sirius and Cadence in private?"

"Of course," Arthur said standing up. "We should be turning in anyways."

"Alright," Remus said standing up and patting Sirius on the back. He stopped by my chair and kissed my cheek lightly. "I'll see you both tomorrow night."

"Good bye, Remus," I said. "Do you mind bringing the whiskey over here?"

Remus smiled. "Don't you think you've had enough?" He kissed my cheek again as I smiled and rolled my eyes.

"Cadence, have you been drinking?" Benjamin smirked as he put his hands in the pockets of his jeans and approached my chair at the opposite end of the room.

"Yes," I bowed my head. "Contrary to other people's beliefs, I can hold my liquor." I made the last statement as I followed Remus out of the basement with my eyes. He waved to us and disappeared up the stairs.

Benjamin took a seat next to me. He folded his hands on the table.

"Carrigan has been having nightmares," he whispered softly. He didn't wait for a moment, he just laid it all out there. "I felt that you should know."

"You have a terrible bedside manner," I whispered as I adjusted my shirt.

"What sort of nightmares?" Sirius asked sitting forward.

"Of Cadence dying," Benjamin looked at me with icy blue eyes as he spoke. His hard stare just reinforced the seriousness of his words.

"How?" I asked before Sirius could speak.

"Voldemort tortures you to death."

"She told this to you?" I questioned with skepticism.

"No," Benjamin frowned while he sat back in his chair. "She has not been blocking me in lessons. She isn't using her strong mental abilities at all and I was able to penetrate her mind before we ended today. She didn't wish to discuss the nightmares with me when I asked her about them."

"Of course not," Sirius scoffed.

"Sir, I know you do not approve of me working to train your daughter," Benjamin said leaning across the table. I wondered if Benjamin knew this just from reading Sirius, or had Sirius actually said something to him? "But I know that she is stronger then this. She has never let me penetrate her mind before. Up until a month ago, Carrigan has always taken great pride in her mental abilities. When we first met she was excellent with Legilimency and Occlumency. In the last month she has allowed her skills to slip."

"She wants to talk to someone," I sighed. "She wants to open up to someone and allowing you into her mind suggests she wants to talk to you, Benjamin."

"I doubt that," Sirius said.

"Sirius, please," I said sharply. Sirius rolled his midnight blue eyes away from me.

"If she wanted to talk to me why didn't she say something when I asked her about it?"

"Because, Carrigan does not talk to people who inquire about her problems," I responded. "When she is ready to talk to you she will."

"Then why allow me to see the dream?"

"To prepare you for what she wants to discuss," I shrugged. "So you know how to help her understand it. And she probably knows that you will come down here and speak to us."

"Why?" Sirius questioned looking back at me and Benjamin.

I gave them a weak smile. "Because she knows that having nightmares about Voldemort is alarming. I've been having the same nightmare."

"I was honestly more concerned about her sudden inability to use her mental powers," Benjamin said.

"Last year," I whispered. "Carrigan was having dreams of Voldemort. My Father and I share a connection because of a blood bond he performed on me, and a failed Connecto Anima curse. It is possible, that sometimes, Carrigan intersects the connections or visions I have from my Father."

"But why would Voldemort be sending you a vision that he's going to kill you?" Sirius asked.

I shrugged. "I think the events of today are evidence that he wants me and Carrigan dead."

"We don't know what those Death Eaters were after," Benjamin said.

"Are you suggesting that they'd be after you instead of me or Carrigan?"

"No," he shook his head. "Although, I don't know who my parents were. It is completely possible that Voldemort knows something we don't."

I sighed with skepticism and rolled my eyes.

"Either way," Sirius said lightly. "What are we going to do about Carrigan's dreams?"

"There is nothing to be done," I replied. "She'll talk to us about them when she is ready. And pushing her will not help the situation."

Benjamin and Sirius both nodded their heads.

"I just wanted you to know," Benjamin said as he made to stand up.

"Thank you," I whispered. "Keep pushing her in lessons, Benjamin. I know that she doesn't like it, but she doesn't fully understand what's at stake right now."

"With all do respect, Cadence, I'm afraid if I push her too far in lessons she'll become completely introverted…and that could lead to self destruction."

I frowned, but nodded my head. "You're her Guardian. I have faith that you'll guide her properly."

Benjamin bowed his head in thanks and then turned, leaving me alone with Sirius in the kitchen. I glanced at the clock again as I heard him disappear up the stairs. It was almost ten o'clock at night.

"I'm going to go find Gabriel," I whispered as I stood up. "Death Eaters could have come back after we left…caught him off guard…" My voice shook as I spoke. "I'm going to go back to the house."

"Cadence," Sirius said my name with a frown.

"I'll be back," I replied, ignoring the concern in his voice. "I'll be back in the morning, no matter what."

"Be safe," Sirius advised.

"Always am," I winked at him and kissed his cheek. I turned away and headed up the stairs into the foyer of the eerie old house. I was pulling on my cloak when there was a gentle knock on the front door. I paused for a moment, my heart racing in my chest, as I stared at the door. I twisted the knob gently while I clenched my wand in my other hand, then carefully opened the door far enough just to press my face between it and the frame. I couldn't help but smile as my eyes fell on Gabriel Quintin.

"The name of your daughter?" I whispered, trying to hide my excitement at seeing him.

"Jennifer," he responded. "The name of our son?"

"Caspian," I said instantly while swinging the door open wide for him to enter. He stepped in and pulled off his cloak as I shut the door. He looked me up and down while I pocketed my wand and crossed my arms over my chest to give him a dirty look.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I was going to get you," I said punching his shoulder. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Doing exactly what I said I would be doing," he said grabbing my hand before I could pull it away from his shoulder. He held it tightly in his own, squeezing it with tenderness, before he brought it to his lips and kissed it delicately. "Worried I'm cheating on you?"

I laughed out loud. "No," I said pulling my hand from his gentle lips. "I was worried Death Eaters had come back to the house for another round."

"They did," he nodded as he stepped closer to me and pushed my cloak off my shoulders. He kissed my neck gently. He caught my cloak once it fell off my arms and threw it on the coat rack behind me.

"How many?"

"Just two. I took care of them."

"Apparently my Father did not like the message you sent."

Gabriel smiled at me. "No," he said as he kissed my lips. "He didn't."

I wrapped my arms around him and laid my head on his chest. Gabriel rested his head on mine as he engulfed me in his arms. "I had to burn the house."

I stepped back in bewilderment. "What?"

"Cadence, we couldn't take any chances that we left something behind for them to find. A note, a keepsake, any magic. The place had to be burned."

"But…" I frowned and looked away. I had hoped that after everything was done we could return to the house in the country. It had been something I had built for myself, for Carrigan. It was my home. It was a place I loved very much. While I was okay with moving, I had told Gabriel that I would not sell the house. I still wanted to return to it.

"We were never going to be able to return to it," he said reading my mind. I hadn't felt him use Legilimency on me, but Gabriel didn't really have to. He knew me well enough to know what I was thinking all the time. "If we didn't destroy it your Father would use it for himself, or he would have destroyed it. It's better that I did it."

"I wish you had told me."

"I know you would have fought me every step of the way."

"Yea," I said sharply. "I would have. Because it was my house, Gabriel."

"I'll building you one myself when this war is over," he said with a loving smile.

"While that is very romantic," I responded with my own smile. "I don't want you to. I'll find us a house since its Carrigan and I who care. You could live in a hole and be happy."

I pulled away from him and made my way towards the kitchen stairs. He was smiling at me as I moved, which made my cold, and rather harsh, comment bounce off him. He knew that what I had said was true. Gabriel was a simple man. The only thing that mattered to him was surviving.

"Are you hungry?"

"No," Gabriel said with a shake of his head.

"I'll just let Sirius know that you're here," I said. "I had told him I was going to find you."

Gabriel smiled. "Which room are we in?"

"Third floor at the end of the hall, on the right."

Gabriel nodded and moved up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Sirius was sitting in his chair still at the kitchen table. He had grabbed the bottle of fire whiskey and was drinking it slowly, straight from the bottle. He stopped mid-sip when he saw me appear at the base of the stairs. I raised my eyebrows at him and frowned as I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Sirius," I whispered sadly. "What are you doing?"

"Drinking," he said mildly as he put the bottle down. "I thought you were going to get Gabriel?"

"He got here right as I was going to leave," I replied.

"And you're sure it's him?"

"Yes. Two Death Eaters attacked him before he managed to finish moving everything. And then he burned the house once it was all done. That's why it took so long."

"Alright then," Sirius said. "I'm happy he's here."

I frowned slightly and glared across the table because I knew Sirius was being facetious. I wasn't sure what had set him into such a state that he needed to drink straight from the bottle, but obviously he was not happy that Gabriel was staying in his house. I wasn't sure if I wanted to ask why he was upset. I was afraid it may open a can of worms that I could not close.

"I thought you weren't the marrying type," Sirius opened the can so I wouldn't have to. I looked down at my hand that was gripping the back of the chair with white knuckles. The silver wedding band shined up at me, reminding me of my commitment and love for Gabriel.

"Is that what this is about?"

"I suppose you're allowed to change your mind." Sirius wasn't looking at me. He was staring at the table, pulling at a loose splinter that was sticking up out of it.

"Yes, I am. I don't answer to you, Sirius. You're drunk. I'm going to bed before you say something to me that you regret."

I turned and moved away quickly to the stairs. If he said anything to call me back, I didn't hear it. If I had, I would have ignored it anyways. I was not going to discuss my private relationship and decisions with him. Not the ones that concerned Gabriel anyways. Sirius had no right to ask me those sorts of questions anymore. As I walked up the stairs to the third floor bedroom, I realized that Sirius Black was a man in great pain, and sadly, I wasn't sure if that pain would ever leave him. I hoped it would, not just for his sake, but for the rest of ours as well.