Regulus groaned softly in his sleep, Snape rustled with his reference book, Lily nervously paced the once-worn green carpet, and Hermione stared tensely out the window. An hour and a half ago, her otter had disappeared into the gray late-afternoon dampness and carried a message for Sirius Black. The addressee had not yet made himself known. Hermione did not dare to try her hand in Hellfire on her own, it was impossible to inform Dumbledore about the found Horcrux. How else to help Regulus and her own plan to save everyone involved, Hermione did not know. The portrait of Severus was silent expectantly. Another hour and the younger Auror was already ready to go personally to the Black Seniors and knock on the door of the mansion warded with protective spells, yelling that their youngest son was alive, and if they did not put some sense into the brains of their elder, then very, very bad news awaited them in nearest future.

There was a thud outside as if someone had slammed into Snape's unfortunate fence, there was a colorful scolding, heavy dragonhide boots slapped on the rubble, and a dusty and disheveled Sirius Black tumbled into the house. He was wearing ripped black jeans, torn not in the latest fashion but because he was wearing them when he found himself in yet another trouble, a Beatles T-shirt and, of course, the trademark leather jacket. The image of the venerable rocker was spoiled only by completely magical boots, silver rivets, and a wand casually stuck in a ponytail of chic hair. Hermione opened her mouth.

No, she always knew that Black was handsome, but to see him now, until he had experienced the hardships of Azkaban, full of strength and audacity, mentally healthy... Yes, real devil, that was how he looked!

"Pick up your drool and pay attention," the portrait of her husband screwed in his two knuts.

"And how do you see through the bag, may I ask?"

"Elementary: you and I never canceled the Legillimency spell so that I can see through you," Snape explained, pleased with himself.

"Stop messing with my head, please. Oh, look, Black has already put his nose into my Occlumency shields, oh, not so fast, boy!"

"Better into your shields rather than under your skirt!"

"So, who's jealous now?"

Severus left his wife's remark unanswered. But Lily had already taken off and ran to the uninvited guest, who was still waiting in the doorway.

"Sirius! Where have you been for so long? We said it was serious!" She immediately turned on her friend. Somewhere Hermione had heard the gossip that Lily and Sirius had indeed once been friends. How did the younger Severus feel about this, she wondered.

"Yes, Moody, old goat, drove me and Jim around the parade ground for half a day, and then made me write a report! Your otter flew into the gym in the midst of training, so we got to face Moody's wraith! Who are you anyway?" Sirius dusted off his knees and turned to Hermione.

"I'm the department's junior Auror and Mrs. Lupin's niece!"

"Strange, Remus didn't say anything about you," Black scowled, continuing to bend Hermione's mental shields. But the witch wouldn't be the best witch of the decade and Slytherin's wife if she didn't learn some tricks. Suddenly, the shields gave way and Sirius lost his balance and collapsed into the misty expanse of the lake, under the surface of which hid the illusions and dreams that Hermione was going to feed him with.

There was a wedding ring with a garnet, Severus' birthstone, glittering on her finger. There they were celebrating Christmas by the fireplace, in peace and quiet, which had never been in her husband's life. Here he was leaning over the table, his face out of sight, looking for information on memory-erasing spells while she bit her lips in desperation and rushed through the rooms in panic. Here she put flowers on the tombstone and her throat constricted with spasms... And here she fastened the Auror robes up to her chin and rushed into battle like a mad woman, she wished not to remember, not to know, not to feel. Here she was throwing herbs and tinctures into the cauldron to brew Liquid Luck. To pay her respects to a memory, to a symbol, to Severus' favorite potion, incredibly difficult to make and perfect in the end. Here she sat in the dark and stared into the void, and in the morning she went to work to try on the guise of the Mad Fury there, so as not to be afraid of anyone or anything, but to always remember him... that mysterious man, for whom she had come all this way ...

Sirius broke the spell and rubbed his temples, straightened up, and glanced around Snape's unkempt living room, stopped at his brother, exhaled, and sat down in a chair. "And you are good, Maya Granger, damn you! Just who taught you to put up such shields? My head hurts like hell now."

Hermione smiled wickedly. "The secret of Beauxbatons. We need your help, Sirius. And your brother needs you."

Sirius summoned a teapot from the kitchen and drank half of it straight from the spout, wiping his chin with his sleeve and clasping his head in his hands. "What's that fool up to again? Why, Reg, why was it necessary to take such risks?"

Snape, who had previously taken the position of an outside observer, suddenly intervened in the rhetorical question. "For your sake, you idiot! You still don't understand that your brother did everything to earn your approval? He was always looking for you at school, and you never bothered to pay attention to him!"

Hermione turned in surprise at Severus, who was filled with rage. And this is starting to look interesting! She did not even suspect that the guys were connected by friendship. Lily nodded in agreement. Snape meanwhile continued to rage. "Tell me just how many times has he set himself up in Quidditch to make his way to the Infirmary and you've come to visit him! How many times has your mother's Howlers resounded in the Great Hall when Reg deliberately ignored the trip home for Christmas to stay with you? He risked his life now to prove something to you, you bastard, but you see nothing but your friends!"

Sirius sat with his head down and stared at the floor, not reacting at all to the tirade. Hermione, to be honest, expected that the quick-tempered guys would now start throwing Avadas and, just in case, put up her shields and nodded to the wary Lily, but oddly enough, Black agreed with the scolding. And from whom? From his worst enemy! "Shut up, Snivelus, I've screwed up enough without you and your lectures..."

"Just call me that again..." Snape said in a very familiar tone. Black shook his head and straightened up, surveying those present with a completely lost look. Hermione's heart sank: what naive, lost children they all were, too flaunting in their courage, but terribly afraid and unbearably weak to bear the burden of change. And it turns out that there was no blood feud between her husband and Black, which she observed in the years of her own youth. Perhaps the dead Lily and James were to blame for what happened, maybe something else...

"You still don't understand?" The portrait of her husband whispered directly into his ear, "Maya Granger…"

Hermione shook her head and stepped forward. She would figure out the role of Maya Granger later.

"Sirius, have you figured out what thing Regulus brought us as a gift?"

Blake nodded reluctantly.

"Then you should understand why we urgently need your help. We don't qualify for this kind of magic by blood status," Hermione stated, trying not to remember how Severus pulled the Hellfire trick more than once, even though he didn't qualify by blood status either. But with her husband, everything was always difficult.

"I will help. Stop sulking," Sirius said. "Lily, can you look after Reg while we sort this out?"

"Sure!"

"Then let's apparate somewhere ashore, closer to the water. Snape, grab the Blood Replenishing and Peppermint, I've had a runny nose since morning," Sirius joked mirthlessly, getting to his feet.

Everyone fussed and ran, and in a minute they were ready. Hermione clutched the Horcrux resolutely in her hand and tried not to think that on this very beach, where their path lay, she had once become a wife to her husband.

Apparition popped and the house at Spinner's End disappeared from view.