When Sirius saw his reflection in the bathroom mirror that morning for the first time since his wife's burial, he was startled. Surely Mercuria would have thrown him out of her bed if she had seen him in such a miserable condition. His hair was matted, he had grown a veritable beard, his complexion was unhealthily pale, and his clothes were dirty, partially torn and reeked of sweat. He had also lost some weight and was now nearly as scrawny as he had been at Azkaban. He took a shower, shaved, and put on fresh clothes. Then he woke Alphard and took him to the kitchen. When they entered, the others looked at him first in surprise and then in relief. Andromeda said, "Finally you look like a human being again. And high time it is. The boys need you. Especially Alphard. Since Mercuria's death he no longer speaks, hardly eats, and often holes up for hours. You must take care of him. Just like with the others". From then on, Alphard followed him everywhere and clung to him as if he was afraid of being left alone again. After a few days, when he felt that the Dementors had disappeared from his dreams now, he put Alphard to sleep in his own bedroom again. The boy still didn't speak a word, but at least he had some food. Sirius took him along when he finally returned to his work at the garage in the Muggle village. In his absence, his staff had taken care of everything as best as they could, but now the time seemed right to resume his daily life. He set up a corner where Alphard could play while he kept an eye on him. After Sirius had finally found a way out of his grief, Lucius, Regulus and Gavin set off in search of Cygnus. "We must find him. The sooner the better. You'll be fine on your own now. And you have Marius, Andromeda, and Sophie to support you in case of emergency".

Although the garage was closed on Saturdays, Sirius had decided to do some work there. Among his staff were excellent mechanics, but of course they could not fit their customers' vehicles with the magical features which Sirius sometimes incorporated. He turned to Alphard, who was playing with a picture book, "Alphard, I need to work in the yard for a moment because the light is better out there. If anything is bothering you, just come outside and tell me". The boy had looked at him with big eyes and had nodded. When Sirius entered the hall half an hour later, the boy was no longer playing in his corner. Sirius drew his wand and searched among the vehicles and in the pits for him. Perhaps Alphard had been hungry or thirsty and had walked to the fridge in the office? When he could not find him there, Sirius became desperate. Finally, he had to accept that Alphard had disappeared. He rushed through the front door and scanned the street up and down. Nothing. He put out a call for help home while inwardly he prayed, "Please not my little Alphard". He cursed himself for having been so inattentive and having left the boy alone. All in a flap, he ran towards the centre of the village, and asked the few passers-by if they had seen a little boy. He was beside himself, when he received a signal from Marius who was at the other end of the village. He apparated towards his son who peeked around the corner of a house and signalled him to come close. From where they stood, they had a clear view on the small flower shop, which belonged to the garden centre, that Sirius and Alphard passed every morning and evening. Marius smiled and pointed to the front door of the shop, from which just then Alphard and a woman stepped onto the pavement. She pointed at several vases with flowers on a shelf until Alphard nodded. She stood on her tiptoes, and took a sunflower from a vase, which she held out to the boy, who examined it closely and nodded. The pair returned inside. Marius and Sirius exchanged a glance before they crossed the street and headed for the shop. When Sirius cautiously opened the door and peered inside, a shop bell rang. The two wizards entered. The woman turned and said in a dark voice, "Good morning, gentlemen. Just a moment. I'll be right with you". Alphard sat on the counter and watched as she deftly tied a bunch from the flowers spread out in front of her. When she had finished, she wrapped a ribbon around the stems and showed the arrangement to Alphard. The boy smiled. She asked, "Love, would you like me to wrap the bunch for you?". Alphard shook his head and pointed to a jar on the shelf that held red plastic hearts stuck on long wires. "You want one of these?". When Alphard nodded, she pulled one of the hearts out of the jar and placed it in the centre of the bouquet.

Sirius had been eying the woman with interest. She was slightly taller than Mercuria. She wore a red bandana, under which a few strands of light brown hair peeked out. She was stout without being fat and wore a loose man's shirt whose sleeves she had rolled up under green dungarees with the name "Fairfield's" written across the front. Apparently, she had been working on a patch when Alphard had entered the shop, because her clothes were stained with soil. And there were stains on her arms and hands as well. Sirius smiled. She had probably tried to push some strands of her hair under her bandana with one hand, because she also had a dirty streak on her forehead and one cheek. He estimated her as being in her mid to late thirties. Now she lifted Alphard from the counter, squatted down and handed him the bunch. The boy grabbed it and pressed a kiss to her cheek before he walked towards his father. The woman straightened up and Sirius approached her, "I am his father. He run away to buy some flowers. Thank you for taking care of him". She was about to take his outstretched hand, but when she noticed the dirt on her hand, she wiped it against her trousers before she shook his. Absentmindedly Sirius rubbed his hands together, whereupon the woman said, "Please excuse me. When the young gentleman came into my shop, I was repotting. There is usually nothing much going on at this time of the day". Sirius smiled. "Thank you again, Mrs. ?". She laughed. A guttural, hearty laugh. "Miss. Jessie Fairfield". "Sirius Black". "The Black who owns the garage? My brother is an absolute fan of yours. You sold him a motorbike. If he is to be believed, you are a true wizard". Sirius didn't know if she was being serious and asked, "How much do I owe you?". She smiled, "Nothing. The young gentleman paid me already". Surprised, Sirius raised his eyebrows and nodded to her before he took Alphard and his bunch of flowers into his arms and left the shop with Marius. Outside, he said to his older son, "I was really panic-stricken already. Imagine if Cygnus started messing with the kids now. We must figure out something". And turning to the child, "Alphard. Just do me a favour. If you want to buy flowers, simply let me know. Then I'll accompany you. Promise me never to run away alone again. You gave me a terrible fright". Suddenly he heard someone call after him, "Mr. Black." The woman came running up behind them. Sirius and Marius turned around, "Here, I'm sure the young gentleman will need his toy money on another occasion". And to Alphard, who beamed at her, she said, "Love, you can come and buy your flowers, whenever you feel like it". She thrust a galleon into Sirius' hand, turned and disappeared into her shop. Marius smiled. "You gave the lady a galleon?". Alphard nodded. "That was fine. But I'll give you some different money. She has no use for this". The boy smiled.

Back home, Sirius accompanied his son to his mother's grave and helped him to lay the bouquet among the other flowers. When a week later it had withered, Alphard cried profusely. "Love, next time we are in town, we will buy a new one", Sirius tried to comfort his son. However, he didn't return to the garage during the week. Regulus, Gavin and Malfoy had returned and took his time. "We couldn't find Cygnus. Wherever he fled to, he's certainly not hiding in the old Flints' house. We turned that upside down. And secured it. There was nothing of interest there anymore, though," Lucius explained. Sirius said, "Well, he had more than half a year to prepare for all contingencies before he came here after his grandparents died. He must have expected that he would have to disappear sooner or later, and he arranged for one or more suitable hiding places". Gavin said, "We followed up all the leads we had. We even looked for him in Hallie's old flat. It's been vacant since she died. The hint came from Marius. But there was nothing to be found there either". Regulus remarked, "So we now can only wait until he shows himself again somewhere". They sat on the terrace until well into the night, deliberating, when the bell at the front gate rung and Sirius said, "A motorbike. I'll let it pass. Brace yourselves". They got up and walked to the front door with their wands drawn. Sirius was speechless when the motorbike stopped at the foot of the grand staircase and the flower woman dismounted with Alphard in her arms. The driver parked the bike and got off as well. He looked vaguely familiar to Sirius. Probably the brother.

Sirius stormed down the stairs. "What happened?". The woman smiled. "I guess my flowers are really something when my customers are busting my shop at two o'clock in the morning". She chuckled. "Anyway, this young gentleman knocked at my shop door and wanted to buy flowers. I had to help then, didn't I? He seemed to be out on his own. We looked for you by the garage first. But it was all dark there. And we couldn't very well let him walk home alone". Sirius was speechless. Then he grabbed her hand and shook it vigorously. "Thank you. Thank you for taking care of him. I promised we'd buy flowers together, but I guess it took him too long. I didn't have much time lately", he added apologetically. "I understand". She leaned towards Alphard. "I'm sure your mama is already in bed. You'll give her the flowers in the morning when you've woken up. I'm sure she'll be delighted". The boy grabbed her hand and pulled her up the stairs. She gave Sirius an insecure look. Determined, he turned, took his son in his arms, and said to Miss Fairfield, "His mother has passed away. I would be immensely grateful if you would accompany him for a moment so that he can lay the bunch at her grave". "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know ...". "Of course, you didn't. Please, could you accompany me?". She nodded and gestured resignedly to her brother. Sirius led her through the house across the terrace to Mercuria's grave in the grove at the opposite end of the lawn. A few paces in front of it, he put Alphard down on the ground and stopped. The boy held Miss Fairfield's hand and together they walked to the grave, where the woman knelt. Then she showed Alphard, where to lay down the bunch. Miss Fairfield put her arm around him. Suddenly the boy began to cry. His little body was shaken by heavy sobs. He buried his little head against her shoulder and clung to her neck. Sirius stood too far away to overhear what she was saying as she spoke soothingly to Alphard. Finally, she rose and approached Sirius with the child in her arms. Silently they walked side by side to the terrace. Miss Fairfield moved over to the balustrade and spoke softly to Alphard. When he finally looked up, she pointed at the sky. Alphard glanced up too and nodded. Then she sang a Muggle lullaby. Sirius had tears in his eyes. He knew the song well. Mercuria had sung it often to soothe him at nights, when he had woken up bathed in sweat, screaming and shaking with fear when his demons had haunted him in his nightmares. When the song ended, she hugged Alphard, kissed him on the cheek and gave the boy to Sirius before she left the estate with her brother. The next evening when Sirius put the boys to bed, he said, "Now listen to me carefully. Alphard has escaped twice now to buy flowers. I want you to keep an eye on him. It is dangerous to walk alone into the village in the middle of the night. Do you understand me? Can I rely on you". The boys nodded. "Ok. Good night then". He gave them each a kiss and turned out the light.

A few days later, the adults were sitting on the terrace after dinner. At some point Andromeda asked, "By the way, did you find out how Alphard could get off the grounds? With all the protective spells and charms on the estate, he hardly couldn't have run off just like this". Sirius shook his head. 'I haven't thought of that at all. But you're right, of course. We can't afford a gap in our protection. I'll find out first thing in the morning". Before they went to bed around eleven, Sirius peered into the boys' bedrooms. They were sound asleep. Hours later, a shrill ringing jolted him abruptly out of his dreams. At first, he couldn't place the sound. Then it dawned on him that it must be Mercuria's telephone. He jumped out of bed, rushed along the corridor and down the stairs to Mercuria's studio. As he picked up the receiver and shouted "Hello" into the mouthpiece, the now familiar smoky voice of Miss Fairfield rang out to him, "Mr Black, is that you?". Sirius nodded, until he remembered that she couldn't see him, and he must speak. "YES, it's me. Sirius Black". "Listen, Mr. Black. We'd drop by your place. But we can't take five boys on the bike and the van is broken". "Five?". "Yes five". Sirius noticed a slightly annoyed undertone in her voice. "We'll be right over. Thank you for ...". She had hung up. Sirius sprinted back upstairs. The others were standing in the doors to their bedrooms. "What happened?", asked Marius. "The boys are in the nursery. All five of them. Get yourselves ready. We must pick them up there. Let's take the motorbikes. They are less conspicuous than broomsticks". Andromeda grumbled, "Then I can't come". Sirius took her in his arms. "We must be quick now. Miss Fairfield seems to be annoyed which I can perfectly understand. Perhaps you'll prepare something hot to drink for the boys. Hot chocolate, perhaps. It won't take long. We'll be back in no time". Malfoy said, "I'm hardly needed here. I'm going back to sleep". He stepped back into his room and closed the door from inside.

The four wizards mounted their motorbikes and flew to the village. Even from a distance they saw that the shop and one of the greenhouses were illuminated. They landed and rode the last stretch on the road before they turned into the courtyard of the nursery and parked their motorbikes. Sirius opened the front door to the flower shop and peered inside. The boys were sitting next to each other on a bench. When they saw him, they giggled and called out, "Hallo Daddy". Procyon jumped to his feet and walked towards him. Sirius leaned down. "Didn't I tell you not to be out at night?". "No, you said it was dangerous to go to the village alone at night. That's why we accompanied Alphard when he wanted to be off". Sirius rolled his eyes as he heard someone giggle in his back. At that moment, Miss Fairfield's brother stepped into the room. He carried a tray of steaming mugs. "Cocoa, anyone?". He handed each boy a mug and then held the tray out to the wizards. "Jessy told me that you'd be coming. So, I made some more right away. These are with a shot". The wizards thanked him, and each took a mug. "Well boys, we're off". A loud protest arose. "But Daddy, Miss Fairfield is making our bouquets. We've already paid her. We must wait until she's finished. Otherwise, she has got up in the middle of the night for nothing". Mr Fairfield said, "The boy's right, you know. I'm sure Jessie wouldn't be thrilled if you suddenly disappeared now".

Just then, Miss Fairfield entered. She was wearing a short nightgown over which she had thrown a brown woollen cardigan. In her haste to get dressed, she had put it on from the inside out. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Her feet were clad in worn pink plush slippers. She carried several bouquets of flowers in her arms, which she handed to the boys in turn. The last bunch she gave to Procyon. He beamed at her. "Thank you so much. It is beautiful. My mother was beautiful too. She had red hair and green eyes, like me and my brothers". He gave the woman, who was also taking a cup, an appraising look. "You are not beautiful. You are chubby and ugly". Mr Fairfield burst out laughing, Regulus, Gavin and Marius stifled their laughter. Sirius blushed with embarrassment and closed his eyes, wishing himself far away. Procyon continued, "I'm sure that's why you're not married, even though you're so old". Mr Fairfield waved his hand in the boys' direction. "You're wrong about that, young man. My sister was married once. But she stabbed her husband to death with secateurs and threw his dead body into the woodchipper. Then she disposed of the remainders in the compost". He paused for effect. "He had told her she was fat and ugly. So, you better be careful about what you are saying". Procyon stared at him in disbelief as Mr Fairfield doubled over laughing and the others joined in. Even Sirius couldn't help but grin. "Now cut it out. How dare you speak to Miss Fairfield like that? Apologise to her. Now". Jessie waved him off. "Leave it, Mr Black. I'm really not a dish, especially not at this time of day". Procyon moved in front of her. "I'm sorry if I offended you. You are not beautiful. But I think you're really nice because you got up in the middle of the night to serve us. Your bouquets are marvellous. And your smell is fantastic, like no one else's. Even my Mum didn't smell as good as you do". She had a smile on her face, "That's very sweet of you. Thank you". Sirius closed his eyes and leaned slightly forward. Her back was right in front of him, and he breathed in her scent. Procyon was right. She smelled of fresh soil and exotic flowers. A unique blend that no perfume in the world could imitate. As she walked over to the counter, Sirius admitted that he had been wrong. She wasn't chubby, as he had assumed on their first encounter, when she was wearing a pair of baggy dungarees. Now he saw that she was brawny, but not overweight, and he suddenly remembered that he had seen her cycling past his garage countless times. Apparently, she didn't have a car, or at least she didn't use one, but instead did her errands by bicycle. Her legs and buttocks were firm and strong, and Sirius secretly wondered what they would feel like under his touch.

He pushed the thought aside when she addressed him. "Mr Black. Here are my business cards. Give them to the boys when you get home. Then, they can order bouquets over the phone. Jonathan will deliver them to you. A lot of my customers prefer doing it that way". He thanked her and pocketed the cards. "I would like to thank you again. You are very patient". She laughed her infectious laugh. "You know, the boys have lost their mum. I'm sure they miss her terribly. Bringing her flowers gives them a chance to be close to her, don't you think? Although, of course, I would prefer them to come during the day and not in the middle of the night. Sirius smiled at her and shook her hand. Then he said goodbye to Mr Fairfield, who asked, "Could you do us a favour? The van broke down and I couldn't get it fixed. I asked your mechanics if they had time to repair it, but they gave me an appointment for next week. Can you check it tomorrow? I really need the van to deliver flowers to our customers". "Of course. Tomorrow, when we come to the village, I'll see what I can do for you. Now guys, hurry up. You have kept Miss Fairfield out of bed far too long already. And I'm sure aunt Andromeda is highly worried by now". They said goodbye and left. As they mounted their motorcycles, the lights went out inside. Alphard, who pressed his bouquet firmly to his chest, looked up at him and said, "Daddy, I like Jessie a lot. And she's not ugly. No, she isn't". Sirius smiled and stroked his head. "No, love, she really isn't".

At home, the boys laid their bouquets on Mercuria's grave. Before they went to bed, Sirius asked, "How did you manage to leave the estate? Procyon, Asterion?". The boys exchanged glances with each other. "Alphard got the remote control out of Mum's car to get past the protective spells and to open the gate and the hedge. We used it again tonight". Sirius held out his hand. "Give it to me. At once. You've got to be kidding me. You boys are far too clever for my liking. I wouldn't have thought of this in a million years. Off to bed with you. Now!". They ran off cheering, still excited from their night's adventure. While they were having their last drink, Lucius asked, "What about that control thing?". Sirius frowned. "When we moved here from London, I secured the property against intruders. But of course, Mercuria didn't want to be dependent on my help to come and go. So, I put an opening charm on the remote control to allow her to pass through the gate whenever she wished". Regulus said, "Relax, brother. At least the boys aren't daft". Sirius gave him a grumpy look. "Have you forgotten that Cygnus could be out there somewhere? I guess this puts an end to those late-night visits to Miss Fairfield's once and for all". Sirius noticed that the others were watching him expectantly. "What?". Marius finally said. "You fancy her. We could see that. Why don't you date her sometime?". Sirius shook his head. "Just recently I lost the most wonderful woman in the world. No one can ever replace her. She was absolutely unique".

Marius leaned forward, "You know what, Sirius? Mercuria gave you the greatest gift anyone could possibly give to a loved one. She gave her life for you. She certainly didn't do it so you could throw that life away now. Although I promised her to keep it to myself, I'll tell you a secret now. No, in fact there are two. First, when you tried so desperately to set the time-turner in function to bring her back, it couldn't work because a part was missing. She gave it to me". He reached into his pocket and tossed a small metal pin on the table. Sirius carefully picked it up and examined it thoroughly. What the hell? He removed from his pocket the four pieces he had always carried with him since Mercuria's death. The metal pin belonged in the pendant; he saw that immediately. With a flick of his wrist, he inserted it and now without difficulty could assemble the piece. Stunned, he stared at the time-turner, which quite obviously was now back in operation. When he tried to set the time, Marius stopped him by grabbing the piece from his hand. Sirius was just getting angry when Marius said, "There's one more thing. Mercuria was sick. A hereditary disease from her mother's side. She showed the first signs about half a year ago. I accompanied her to the Muggle doctor. By then, the disease was quite advanced. A disease unknown to us wizards. In its final stage, it has the same effect on a Muggle as a Dementor's Kiss has on a wizard. She would have become an empty shell. There was nothing I could do for her. In a few months, she would have forgotten everything she ever knew. She wouldn't have recognised any of us, not even you. Perhaps she couldn't be obliviated because she always carried the disease. She simply would not endure such a fate. She decided on her own, trusting that you would live on and hold all things together. She wanted you to be happy again after her death. And she certainly didn't want you to mourn her all your life. So, you might want to consider dating Jessie Fairfield. I mean, she's fat and ugly... But her smell is sensational". They burst out laughing and suddenly Sirius felt very light-hearted. Now that he knew the facts, he had no reason to feel guilty about liking the flower lady. There was nothing left for him to do for Mercuria. Even now that the time-turner would work again, he could not use it. He had no cure for her illness and was therefore ready to let her go, now convinced that this was what she had wished.

"Why didn't she ever tell me?". "Because she didn't want to live the last months of her life with a mourning lot. As long as she was still aware of what was going on around her, she wanted to be happy". Suddenly Lucius said, "You mean she sought confrontation with Cygnus? So that he would kill her? She took an enormous risk there. What if he has now squeezed the contents of the book out of her?". Marius smiled. "Yes, she probably sought a confrontation with Cygnus. She wanted him to do the dirty job for her. Also, because she knew Sirius would never stop hunting Cygnus down if he killed her. But certainly not on that special day. She would never have wanted Alphard to witness her death. But as far as the book is concerned, when she decided to sacrifice herself to Cygnus, she couldn't remember anything about the book. We have tested it. She had far too much respect for what a wizard might be capable of doing to her to take any risks as far as the book was concerned. Cygnus didn't learn about it from her. Of that I am certain". Lucius said disappointedly, "So the book is lost forever. A pity, really". Marius said, "I don't think so". "She told you that she had written down the contents somewhere when she could remember?". "No, she didn't. But I did know her very well. Better than anyone else. After all, she raised me. Mercuria had an obsession for lost wisdom. She was always on the lookout for clues to some ancient technique or other. It didn't even have to be directly related to what she specialised in. Once we stood in a cathedral and she marvelled at the blue colour of a window. She had an idea for a similar window. It turned out that there was no one who could produce a blue like that these days. She didn't rest until she found out what did the trick". "And that's why you think there's a copy of the book somewhere?". "I don't suspect, I know". "Have you found it?". "No. But I know it's somewhere. Mercuria would never have destroyed the knowledge of bringing someone back from the Kingdom of the Dead". Sirius had taken the time-turner from Marius and now gave it to Regulus. "Brother, you'll take care of it. I am quite sure that there is no event in the past that you would like to change. For Andromeda, Lucius, and myself, however, there may come a moment in the wee hours of the night when reason is drowned in a sea of nostalgia and happy memories. Then we may be tempted to use it". Regulus hesitated for a moment before taking the time-turner and slipping it into his pocket.