On Friday night, when they had a last drink in the kitchen , Regulus asked, " Well, are you excited?". "Yes, ! sure am. I'm curious to see how the boy has grown up. Mark, that he was only two when I left him with Mercuria. I hope that I did the right thing ". "You know what, Sirius? I'm absolutely convinced of that. I'm sure he's a wonderful young man. Just remember, how distressed you were, when you first met him in the Leaky Cauldron". Sirius nodded thoughtfully. "Well. I must get home. You guys will be coming on Sunday, right?". They nodded. Sirius stood up, said goodbye, and disappeared into the Floo network.

On Saturday, the family had gathered at the porch in front of the entrance door to welcome Marius. Sirius beamed as the young man strode up the steps of the broad outdoor staircase. Marius looked like he remembered him from his visit to the Leaky Cauldron. His own spitting image. The resemblance with the frightened, shy young man ended there, however. Marius took Mercuria in his arms and spun her around. She hugged him tightly and both laughed with joy. Then she took a step back and examined him closely from head to toe. Smiling, she said, "Let me have a look at you. My goodness, you really are a sight to see. You've grown up since I last met you. A splendid young man. Come with me, I want to introduce you to someone". She took him by the arm and led him to Sirius. "Darling, this is your father. Sirius Black". Sirius hesitated for a moment before he took his son into his arms and gave him a big hug. "I'm so glad you're finally here. Let me look at you, son. Last time I saw you, you were two. Now you are a grown man. And what a man". Marius smiled shyly. "I'm glad too. Mercuria has told me so much about you. I'm finally getting to know you. I'm so happy". Mercuria introduced the boys and said, "Come inside. Today we celebrate". It was a happy evening, and they went to bed late. The next day Regulus and Gavin came for dinner and were simply delighted with Marius.

Sirius had been really beside himself when he finally met his eldest son again. And at first, he had also been thrilled. But after a few days, his enthusiasm gave way to a certain disillusionment. When he dealt with the others, Marius was cheerful and carefree. But towards his father he was strangely inhibited and seemed highly intimidated. Sirius did not understand the reason why. He had hoped so much that his grown-up son would be the companion he wanted more than anything else and with whom he could do all the things he enjoyed. But it soon turned out that Marius did not fit the requirements. He was a quiet man and preferred to spend his time with his younger brothers and Mercuria rather than to roam around with his father. And during the two or three trips on the motorbike that Sirius had taken with his son, the latter had been frightened and insecure, so that he had given up on offering Marius a ride. Sirius felt increasingly bored. Regulus and Gavin were still busy renovating the house, but Sirius no longer felt inclined to help them. There was no interesting challenge in his garage and his Muggle motorbike buddies had left for an extended trip to the continent. His only distraction was his love games with Mercuria, into which he gradually put all his energy, so that at least his nights held a sufficient amount of eventfulness.

Sirius had stopped smoking and drinking hard liquor, and the withdrawal effects made him feel even more miserable, although he admitted to himself that he had overdone both lately. He began to fly his motorbike over his vast grounds, and occasionally settled down in a quiet spot to reflect his situation. Deep down inside he knew that things could not go on like this and he had to make a change. He imagined what his life should look like in the future. Everything he had ever wanted during his time in Azkaban, he now had. And yet something was missing. And he was convinced that he knew what it was: James. Increasingly, his thoughts drifted into the past. And the more he looked back, the more he missed his friend. He missed their long talks, the fun they had had, the pranks they had played, everything, everything. He noticed the sad looks of his boys, with whom he spent less and less time. And the concern in Mercuria's face when she eyed him. He knew that something was going terribly wrong in his life. Once the thought crossed his mind to travel back in time along with Mercuria. Not to change anything. Just to be allowed to watch James one last time. From a distance. Perhaps then everything would be all right again. But he was aware of how his wife would react to this request. She had always been by his side no matter how difficult the situation. Accompanied all the ups and downs in his life without complaint. There was only one red line and this was the use of the time-turner. Never, under any circumstances, would she agree to hand over the piece to him again. Briefly, he considered to snatch the time-turner surreptitiously and to travel back in time for a short while. He snorted. His wife knew him well enough to have made arrangements for this case. Most likely, the piece would not work at all because she had put it out of function.

One evening Sirius overheard a conversation between Mercuria and Regulus. Sirius leaned against the wall and eavesdropped. Regulus said hesitantly, " No offence intended, but I must confess that I was quite surprised when I learned that my brother is married with children. Sirius and a romantic love affair, somehow that doesn't seem to fit at all. When I heard about it, I realised that he must have changed quite a lot". "What was he like as a boy?", asked Mercuria. "You've certainly know that he had had a hard time in our family. Walburga and Orion weren't loving parents and to make matters worse, Sirius in no way matched their ideas of how a good son should behave. From an early age, they constantly pushed him to do things he didn't want or outright refused to do. He resisted their pressure as best as he could. When he started at Hogwarts and became a Gryffindor, the situation at home worsened even more if that was still possible at all. For our parents it was simply unthinkable that their eldest son was not sorted into Slytherin house, which was as important to them as our family crest and our pure-blood lineage. Until then, there had only occasionally been arguments, because Sirius avoided our parents as best as he could when they still lived under the same roof. But from then on things really got bad for him. They constantly harassed him and tried to lead him back on the right path, as they called it. He withstood all their efforts and threats, and probably at that time he developed the stubbornness and resistance against advice which still characterises him today. In a nutshell, our parents made him feel that he was not what they had hoped for in a son. And he decided that he had to become independent from them as soon as possible. He spent most of his holidays with the Potters and seldom returned home. I admired him for standing up for his convictions. When our Uncle Alphard bequeathed him his money, Sirius parted with our parents for good and moved out. He was just sixteen and thus of age when he left to live in his own flat. I don't think he ever met our parents again. For him, at least, this was the best possible solution. I, on the other hand, always tried to live up to our parents' expectations. Until it just wasn't possible anymore". "And what about romance and girls?". "I think our family situation contributed massively to Sirius' rebellion against any kind of authority from an early age. He had found a soulmate in James Potter. Their pranks were legendary. And they were admired by everyone. Even by the Slytherins. But while Potter from a certain age became interested in girls and acted out like a show-off towards them, I had the impression that Sirius regarded this behaviour with a certain condescension. Instead, he always treated girls in a friendly, polite and, above all, aloof manner. Although many would have died to be with him. He looked terrific as a teenager. Well, he's still attractive today, but back then, you know. 'Drop dead beautiful' a classmate once called him. Some of them even asked me what they must do to get him interested in them. Imagine that". Regulus chuckled.

"I then pieced together that he simply didn't want to commit himself. To have a steady girlfriend demands accepting commitments. You must invest time, take care, be considerate, in short, you always must have your partner's wishes in mind and compromise. Sometimes you must put your own needs on the back burner. He was not willing to do that. After moving out of home, he was simply not ready to share control of his life and decisions with someone else again and to allow them to make demands on him and his time that he did not want to fulfil. I confess that at one point I thought that he was like me. You know what I mean, that he took an interest in boys. And that he was in love with James. But then I went into his room once when he was about 14 years old. There had been a terrible row over the pictures he had glued to the walls. I wanted to see them for myself. Pictures of motorbikes and Muggle girls in bikinis and while I was looking at them, he came in. At first, he got angry at me because I had entered his room. But when I pointed to the photos, he smiled and said, "When I am grown up, I will buy one of those Muggle vehicles. They're much more fun than a broom. And I will have a girl like one of these". When he said that, he had a dreamy look on his face. I knew then that he hadn't only chosen the pictures to annoy our parents, but because they meant something to him and that he was dead serious about it. Later I noticed that Sirius had lots of women, but no romance. Until you came along. What was different with you?".

There was a short pause. Then Mercuria said, "First there was the letter from the future about Rosier's casket. Sirius was convinced of its authenticity and was willing to do the job. That is, to get to know me and keep in touch with me. But that alone would not necessarily have led to a love story. We could also have been just friends. Looking back, much more important was probably our situation at the time. When we met, I was on the verge to run away and burn all bridges behind me. Just as Sirius had done a few years before. I had been planning my flight to Belgium for a very long time. I didn't want to leave any loose ends behind. Sad memories of some man and constantly asking myself 'what if'. There were a few boys with whom I fumbled around and snogged, but before things could get serious, I always called it quits. Just before the end of the school year at Hogwarts, Lily wrote to me that she would be visiting Cokeworth with her boyfriend James and with Sirius for a week or so. before they would travel to France. She went on and on about James. All she wrote about Sirius was that he was her best friend and that she was worried because he didn't have a steady girlfriend. She feared that he was lonely, and she had already tried several times to set him up with one of her friends unsuccessfully. Along with the letter came a photo of four young men standing arm in arm, smirking into the camera. At first, I thought she was referring to Peter Pettigrew. Short, chubby, and unassuming he seemed a grey mouse and just the kind of guy to have problems in finding a partner. On the back of the photo Lily had written the boys' names. When I realised that I had been wrong about Sirius, I cracked up laughing. Like you said, Sirius was gorgeous, and someone with looks like his has women chasing after him in droves. Which was exactly the flaw. As soon as a woman let him know that she wanted more than a brief encounter, he took flight. I just thought, 'Cousin, this man is not lonely. He gets exactly what he wants. If he doesn't have a steady girlfriend, he's either gay or he's not interested in a Cinderella-like love story and doesn't want to be committed'". "Who's Cinderella?" asked Regulus. Mercuria chuckled. "It's a Muggle fairy tale. Cinderella lives with her wicked stepmother. One night the king gives a great ball for all single ladies in his realm so that the prince can choose his bride from them. With the help of a witch, Cinderella sneaks into the castle and of course the prince falls in love with her. They marry and live happily ever after. Many girls and women hope that their owns lives are just like a fairy-tale coming true and that a prince will fall in love with them, and they'll be happy for the rest of their days. What nonsense. As if a fairy-tale ever could become true. Of all stories, I always found this the most horrific. Silly Cinderella and her stupid prince. As soon as I saw Sirius 'photo, I knew that although he looked like a prince from a fairy tale nothing could be further from his mind than to spend his life pleasing his Cinderella". They exploded with laughter. Sirius smiled. How right she had been.

"I was only sixteen at the time, but one thing I knew immediately: showing Sirius that you wanted to be with him would surely send him running for the hills. I knew that well from my own experience. As soon as a boy had serious intentions, I ended the affair as fast as possible. But I was sure there were women in his life. On his terms and as long as he wanted them. Either they accepted or he picked the next one. After all, there were plenty and he had his choice. He simply was that kind of guy. Therefore, he really was the perfect man for my own plans, the right choice for my first time. There would be no loose ends with Sirius. I was sure that he was experienced, obviously unwilling to commit himself, a wizard and he would disappear from my life forever after a week. I also imagined how he would react if confronted by someone who played the game the way he did. In fact, I caught him off guard in the kitchen. He was not used to that. When I then told him that there was nothing more behind it than that I just wanted to be with a wizard for once, and that he was the only one available, he was bewildered and probably also quite upset. From then on, his interest was aroused. During his time with us at Cokeworth, we were together day and night. We spent a blissful week with Lily and James and when the three of them left for France, I was pretty sad. But I had wanted it that way. And although Sirius had my address in Antwerp, I honestly didn't expect to ever see him again. I didn't know anything about the letter from the future yet and Sirius' mission to keep in touch with me. So I was quite surprised when he showed up in my flat in Antwerp a month later. The reason why our relationship lasted until he was arrested and taken to Azkaban was to a large extent due to the fact that I lived in Belgium and had a lot of work to do. Sirius came and went as he pleased. I made no demands, and he felt no pressure. I was his sanctuary, and the conditions of our relationship contained enough adventure to keep him interested. When we were together, we were happy and that's what counted. When I found out that he was seeing other women, I took home other men and made sure that he noticed. Not to make him jealous. But to prevent him from taking me for granted. When he was in England, we communicated with two mirrors. I would sit awake at night with my mirror in my hand, and often I was on the very verge of calling him. I never did because I was certain that trying to contact him at the wrong moment would ruin everything. So it was always Sirius who would call or suddenly just show up in front of me. For him, the situation was perfect and he felt fine about it. He had no pressure, his need for adventure was satisfied and he loved me in his own way. Of that I was sure. But it wasn't until he abducted Marius and asked me to care for him that I knew he had decided on a joint future".

There was a short pause and Sirius remembered a night he had travelled to Antwerp. When he had entered the flat, Mercuria had been sitting in the large wing chair with her back to the front door. In the large mirror on the wall, he had seen that she held Marius in her lap and read to him from a picture book. They both had giggled gleefully as Mercuria had imitated the voices of various characters. At that moment he had experienced a sensation which up to then he had never felt before: the distinct feeling of having arrived home. Suddenly he had been sure that he belonged in that very room, with those two in the armchair. His already strong feelings for them had turned into a deep emotion and at the same time a wave of happiness had flowed through him. At last he had arrived home. He had taken them in his arms and never wanted to let them go again. From then on, each time he said goodbye had been harder than the previous one. Already when he had been sitting with them at the breakfast table and the moment of farewell had been just a few precious moments away, he had thought longingly of their next meeting, and back on the island his thoughts had constantly revolved around his little family in Belgium and he could hardly wait to cross the channel to be with them,

Mercuria continued, "When he reappeared after the years in Azkaban and his escape, everything was different, He was like a ship that had lost its bearings on the high seas. He needed all his strength and determination to sail to a safe harbour. Sometimes I wasn't sure he would make it. I supported him wherever I could. And the search for the Healer's Book gave him a mission that restored his confidence and made him feel like he was contributing something important in the fight against Voldemort. As a result, he regained his composure. In the past few years since Voldemort's death, we have led a very secluded life. I think Sirius needs a friend".

"What about Harry?". "Frankly, Regulus, I don't know. The great tragedy in Sirius' life is that he was the one who suggested Peter Pettigrew as a Safekeeper to Lily and James and thus ultimately caused their deaths. He never got over that, and probably never will. I have often tried to make him understand that only because James and Lily were willing to sacrifice their lives for Harry it was possible to vanquish Voldemort. And deep down, he knows that too. But that doesn't help against the guilty feelings. As for Harry, he loves Sirius unreservedly. To him, Sirius is his family. More than I am. When he heard that Sirius was still alive, his joy was boundless. Especially as he had blamed himself for being responsible for Sirius' death, How Sirius sees their relationship by contrast, I don't know. He certainly feels obliged to Harry. After all, he is his godson and James' son. The night they met, and the truth came out, Sirius even suggested that Harry should live with him. But when Peter managed to escape again, thus destroying any hope of rehabilitation for Sirius, of course that was no longer an option. He probably likes him. How he really feels about Harry, I can't say. Look, for Harry, Sirius is the closest link to his parents. The only one who has been with his father from the age of eleven until his death without interruption and has experienced everything up close and personal. Harry loves Sirius unconditionally. In turn, Harry constantly reminds Sirius of his own failures. Back when he was free again, Sirius was desperate to catch a glimpse of his godson, so he came to Little Whinging to see Petunia. But he had not taken the risk of running away from Azkaban and coming to Hogwarts to meet Harry, but to find Peter and prove his innocence. Strictly speaking, Sirius and Harry had little contact in the two years leading up to Sirius' faked death at the Ministry. Harry never really fathomed the degree of Sirius' mental instability. How could he? He only saw, what he wanted to see so desperately. When they met, Harry was thirteen. An orphan boy who grew up with neglectful relatives and who longed for nothing more than a family. And then he suddenly meets his parents' closest friend. His godfather. Who is willing to take him in. Sirius must have seemed to Harry like the living fulfilment of all his dreams. Only that Sirius wasn't all that Harry saw in him. Sirius did his best to support Harry and took enormous risks in doing so. But he was a broken man by then. Harry was unable to see Sirius problems and probably still doesn't to this day. In any case, it never seems to have occurred to him that twelve years in complete isolation marks a person in a way that makes him prone to mental breakdowns. I'm convinced that Sirius has considered suicide more than once, and I'm honestly glad that Harry, after he vanquished the Dark Lord, moved in with the Weasleys, and they only see each other now and then. Living with Harry permanently would not have been good for Sirius' mental health at any time".

Sirius thought about Mercuria's words. As always, she was right. It still gave him a brief twinge when he met Harry and at first thought he saw James. Why the hell did they look so bloody much alike? And now at twenty-one, Harry was exactly the same age as James had been when he had lost him, which made every encounter even more painful for Sirius.

Mercuria continued, "Sirius needs a friend. Someone with whom he can do all the things he has missed while he was in prison. When we hid in my world after his fake death at the Department of Mysteries, we led a quiet life and were careful not to attract attention. Furthermore there were the twins. He was happy with them but he had to learn to lead a family life. And since we moved here, we've been living far too isolated. Sirius needs to socialise a lot more. I'd invite someone over if I only knew who". Sirius had thought about it. She was right. But who was a suitable candidate? His former friends were all dead. And on reflection, it had only been James and Remus anyway. All other acquaintances had been more or less superficial, who needed countless contacts when your best friend was closer to you than a brother? No. He must concentrate on his family, just as James had done. He decided to change a few things in his life from now on.