The following day Mercuria informed him that she and the boys were going to visit Marius at Grimmauld Place. Cygnus was planning to meet a friend. Sirius noted that it was Saturday. In the morning he went to his garage in the Muggle village. Back home, he had a drink. After a while he began to feel bored. Eventually he decided to travel to Grimmauld Place as well. When he stepped out of the fireplace there, swaying slightly, those present startled at him. His boys came running up and hugged him. When he suddenly discovered Lucius Malfoy at the table, he froze. Only now did he notice the guilty expression on the others' faces. What the hell was going on here? Apparently, this was a planned meeting that he was not supposed to attend. Suddenly, his mistrust knew no bounds. They were plotting something. He was convinced of that. But what? He decided not to show his rage and greeted them politely. But shortly afterwards he felt that he could not bear it any longer and said goodbye, "I am giving you the possibility to scheme whatever it is you're planning". When Mercuria tried to make him stay and grabbed his arm, he tore himself loose, pushed her away and jumped into the fireplace.

At home, Sirius ran into Cygnus, to whom he instantly complained about the meeting at Grimmauld Place. When he mentioned that Lucius had been present, he noticed to his surprise that Cygnus winced and frowned. Then he eagerly poured his father a glass of whisky. "Sirius, I have a request. Today I met an old friend. Can she stay with us for a while? We have plenty of room, don't we, and she doesn't know where to go?". Sirius nodded uninterestedly. His mind was still on the meeting he had crashed. Suspiciously, he searched for an explanation as to what it had meant. He had the feeling they were ganging up on him. But why? He had always had their best interests at heart. What was the reason for them to turn against him now? They were his family. The ones closest to him. He felt lonely, abandoned and very disappointed. Luckily, Cygnus was still there. He smiled at his son as he filled his glass to the brim. He briefly remembered that he had decided to stop drinking. He swallowed the drink. Nothing else mattered now. And Cygnus didn't seem to mind his drinking. Quite the opposite. He even increased his consumption. That evening, for the first time in years, he drank himself into a blackout. He did not notice the return of Mercuria and the boys.

When he woke the next morning, Mercuria was sitting up in bed, looking down at him. Seeing that he was awake, she said, "Sirius, listen to me". He raised his hand and replied, "Not now, dear. I've got a terrible headache. Let's talk later". He kissed her and wondered why she turned away with a disgusted look on her face. He didn't dare ask what was wrong. Instead, he got up and went to the bathroom. The day dragged on. Sirius kept out of Mercuria's way. He wanted to be sober before they had a clarifying discussion. Cygnus had disappeared after breakfast, saying he would be back in the evening with the girl who was going to move in with them for a while. Sirius spent the day with the boys, entertaining them with magical tricks. It had been a long time since he had played with them, and they were brimming with enthusiasm.

In the evening, they had already started dinner when Cygnus entered the room with a young woman. "This is Drusia", he introduced her. Sirius looked up and cast an interested glance at her. She was taller than Mercuria and skinny. Her blonde hair was pinned up. She had a plain face with watery blue eyes that looked in different directions. Her dress, with its colourful floral pattern, hung limply from her body. No dazzling beauty, but Cygnus seemed to prefer plain women, as his affair with Lizzy proved. Sirius rose and greeted her. Was she not just a friend? During dinner, he noticed the young woman occasionally gazing at him intently, obviously very much in agreement with what she saw. When Sirius went to bed, he found that Mercuria was already asleep, and he was glad that he could thus avoid an unpleasant discussion.

Over the next two or three days, he kept accidentally bumping into Drusia, who seemed to try finding him alone, so he ended up wondering. He dealt with her politely, but aloofly, and did as best as he could to avoid her. This changed from one moment to the next. Drusia had given him a glass of whisky and while he took two or three more glasses, he looked at the young witch attentively for the first time. Suddenly she seemed far less plain than before. Rather, he perceived a fascination about her that only became apparent at second glance. As the evening progressed, he felt more and more attracted to Drusia and began to imagine what it would be like to take off her much too loose dress and discover what was underneath. An almost unbearable longing seized him, the likes of which he thought he had not felt for a very long time. He pushed the thought aside when his eyes caught Mercuria's, who was watching him with a frown and a pinched face. He pulled himself together, took his wife by the hand and pulled her along as he staggered up the stairs to their bedroom. He disrobed himself clumsily and slipped under the covers. When Mercuria lay down beside him, he bent over her enthusiastically and kissed her on the mouth. He winced in amazement when she pushed him back. "Sirius, you smell terrible. You don't seriously expect me to be with a man who's so drunk he hardly knows what he's doing and doesn't remember anything the next morning? Sleep off your drunkenness first, then we'll talk again". She turned her back on him. Sirius let himself sink into his pillow, frustrated and disappointed. What was going on if even Mercuria, on whom he could always have counted, now rejected him? He longed for her caresses and was briefly tempted to make another move and change her mind. He covered his mouth with his hand and exhaled. Disgusted by his own smell, he had to agree with her and realised that his kisses must taste terrible. He sighed and firmly resolved that things would be different in the morning. Sirius spent the next day in his garage in the Muggle village. When he returned home in the evening, he gave Mercuria a big hug and beamed at her. She smiled delightedly and amused. In fact, Sirius stuck to his plan to stay sober and accepted only one whiskey before dinner, which Drusia handed him. During the meal, he felt his anticipation growing and he had to restrain himself from carrying his wife into the bedroom immediately. At the same time, his eyes wandered over to Drusia more often, and he wondered why he was increasingly attracted to her. When he was finally in bed together with Mercuria, she bent over him this time, and his world seemed to be back to normal again, when she covered his body with kisses, caressed him and made love to him all night long.

Unfortunately, his good intentions did not last very long. Sirius was out with Cygnus who easily managed to get his father to drink again. When they returned in the evening, Sirius was already heavily drunk and had Drusia serve him another whisky. Once again, he was overcome by an incomprehensible longing for the young woman. After Mercuria had turned him down for two nights in a row, Sirius was consumed with desire. The following day, Cygnus and Drusia paid him a visit in the garage. It was midday and his staff were out for lunch. While Cygnus inspected the vehicles in the yard, Drusia asked Sirius to show her around the hall. He felt strangely attracted to the young woman, and when she leaned against a vehicle and turned to face him, he inhaled her intoxicating scent. Without thinking, Sirius spontaneously pulled her close and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself against him. However, Sirius' pleasure quickly turned into intense disappointment when he realised that she was in no way giving him the erotic fulfilment he had expected from her. She lay motionless in his arms, merely opening her mouth for his tongue to enter. He released her with a muffled apology. Turning, he saw Cygnus standing in the doorway, watching the scene with an amused smile on his face. When he noticed Sirius's gaze, he said, "Don't worry. I won't tell your wife about this". Then he took a bottle from his pocket and poured Sirius a drink.

The next three days were torture for Sirius. Despite his best intentions, he poured more and more alcohol into himself. At the same time, he was plagued by his desire for his wife, who regularly rejected him after his binges, and his longing for the young woman who was now part of his household and did not seem averse to a closer relationship. Eventually the situation escalated. Mercuria had already gone to bed and Sirius had been drinking with Drusia and Cygnus. As he stood up swaying, on a sudden impulse he grabbed Drusia's arm and pulled her along out of the room. For a moment he was confused when he saw Cygnus giving a thumbs up. As he trudged up the stairs with Drusia in tow, he thought about where to take the young woman now. To his bed, of course. After all, this was his house, and if his wife thought she could walk all over him, she was wrong. It seemed only fair that she should move to another room if she wanted to read at night instead of making love to him. Violently, he pushed down the door handle and entered. Mercuria stared at him, stunned. "Go ahead and undress, I'll be done here in a minute", he muttered to the aghast Drusia. Then he rushed to the bed, grabbed Mercuria's wrists, dragged her from the bed to the door and pushed her violently out of the room. Mercuria stumbled backwards and fell to the floor. As Sirius bent down to help her up, she lashed out and slammed her fist into his face with all her might. Sirius staggered backwards and stared dumbfounded at the blood dripping from his broken nose onto his shirt. Mercuria jumped up and shoved him into the bedroom. "Wake up once and for all, you bloody idiot". Then with a loud bang, she slammed the door in his face.

Sirius stared at the door, fuming with rage. Then he turned around, said to Drusia as he passed, "Go lie down, I'll be right there," and disappeared into the bathroom to inspect the damage his wife had done. His nose was broken and twisted. He cursed as he healed himself with his wand and stopped the bleeding. That damned devil. Suddenly a small smile played around his lips. In her rage, his girl was still incredibly powerful. Her blow had hit him like a steam hammer. Remarkable for someone her size. For a moment he felt guilty that he had pushed her this far. Then he shook his head. She had only herself to blame for what had happened. If she had been a little more sympathetic to his needs, it would never have come to this. After all, he was a man. A man who for a very long time had been deprived of everything a man needed. If she was not willing to give it to him, he felt free to get it somewhere else. On his way to the bedroom, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Mercuria's pill box on the shelf. After they had Phineas and Alphard, they had decided that they did not want more children. Thus, she had started to take the pill and had explained to him how it worked. Sirius was crazy about the young woman in his bed, but the pill box in combination with the memory of how Hallie had framed him gave him a brief moment of clarity. He pocketed the box and resolved to secretly administer the contraceptive to Drusia. His desire was strong, yet he did not want any more children to unexpectedly pop up at his door.

Sirius entered the bedroom to find Drusia lying naked on the bed, smiling shyly at him. He quickly got out of his clothes and lay down on the bed beside her. When he began to caress her gently, much to his surprise, she pulled him to lie on top of her, opened her legs wide and forced him to enter her. The whole thing was over in less than three minutes, during which she moaned loudly and tossed and turned in feigned ecstasy. As he rolled over onto his side, she exclaimed, "Oh, Sirius. That was absolutely amazing. Unbelievable". She kissed him on the mouth and turned her back on him. Sirius lay awake for a long time that night. His head was throbbing from the alcohol, and he wondered why he had craved Drusia for days if the result was so lousy. She had not been aroused, nor had she given him the chance to bring her to climax. Not to mention his own needs, which had also been completely ignored. Not even his night with Hallie, which until then had been the worst lovemaking he had ever experienced, had turned out that bad. He longed for Mercuria. For the unimaginable things she did to him. But also for the way her body responded to his touch. He wanted his wife back, and the next morning he would do everything in his power to make amends.

When he got up in the morning, Sirius felt miserable. He went to the kitchen where Dinky served him his breakfast. Shyly, she put an envelope in front of him. Curious, he opened it and pulled out a sheet. He blinked as he read, "Get lost". Sirius was confused. "Dinky, what does this mean. And where is my wife?". "Mistress Black left last night". "Left? What is that supposed to mean? And where to?". "Where to, I do not know. She came downstairs with the boys. Master Cygnus caught up with her at the front door. He said she could go but his brothers would stay. There was a heated argument and eventually she ran out into the night. Alone. I don't know where to". Sirius jumped up and ran for the door. He picked up his motorbike and flew off. Desperately, he searched all day long for Mercuria, but he couldn't find her. When he returned home disillusioned, Cygnus and Drusia already waited for him with distressed faces. "What happened with you and Mercuria?", Sirius growled at Cygnus. "I'm sorry. She came downstairs with the boys just as I was about to go to bed. She was in a terrible state. Completely in tears. I was afraid she was going to do something to herself. I finally insisted that the boys stay here. But I couldn't stop her. She started hitting me. What could I do? You had forbidden me to use magic on her, remember?". Sirius nodded. The story seemed strange to him. His wife had been crying? That was simply unbelievable. He would have rather expected her to smash everything to pieces in her rage. When Cygnus handed him a glass, he drank it hastily. And the next, and the next. Until he finally collapsed.