Prisoner Number ᛈᛉ390

Claudia stared at Oscar, whose nostrils were wide.

"I cannot believe you!" he hissed between the heavy breaths. "How could you do this to me?"

"How could you-" Claudia began but struggled to say any more than that, as tears were forcing themselves into her eyes at the sheer unfairness of what Oscar was accusing her of. "Do you always have to think the worst about me?"

"Give me a reason to think any differently!"

"I didn't... I don't-" she stuttered. "I didn't know…"

"Right, very convincing," Oscar snapped. "I thought you always knew everything."

"Do you really think-" Claudia drew in a sob and turned away, desperate not to cry in front of him. "I can't do this," she mumbled as tears began to roll down her cheeks. She was hurt and there was no containing it. "I'm going home."

"Claudia-"

"Leave me alone," she bawled.

Then, she felt a hand on her shoulder, and Oscar spun her back to face him. "You're not leaving like this." He was still undeniably pissed off, but the fire has somewhat gone out of his eye.

"If I slept with someone for an alibi-" she tried to explain but she could not do it, and broke down in tears again. She could hardly tell him that she would not have picked the one other person she could actually imagine spending the rest of her life with.

"Alright, alright…" Oscar hands were now on top of her arms. "I'm sorry I snapped," he mumbled. "But I've got hard time trusting you on this."

Claudia took a deep breath. "We both know you shouldn't trust me." She was calmer now, more focused. "It's not like I'll help you catch him."

"I know better than asking you to choose a side," he said. "But there is one thing I need to know."

Claudia swallowed dry. "Which is?"

"Can you promise me you won't lie to me to protect him again?"

Claudia looked into those eyes that just yesterday were filled with desire and joy. Now, they were steely. She sighed. The least Oscar deserved was the truth. "No, I can't promise you that."

"I thought as much," he uttered. "I've got to go. Go home and try not to get yourself arrested."

"Oscar!" she called after him. "You believe me, right? That I wouldn't do this to you…"

But Oscar did not answer her question. He just threw his arms into the air in a somewhat exasperated gesture and slammed the door behind him.

Tears began to roll down Claudia's cheeks again. As she went to the bathroom to wash them off with some cold water, she glanced into the mirror and noticed she was smiling. Amidst all that happened in the last half hour, she did not even realise her tears turned into happy ones. Claudia stopped trying to control them. What was the point trying not to get emotional about this?

The only person she ever loved was free once more. And she was sure he would find a way to let her know where he was. She was sure that she would see him again in the matter of days, touch his face, kiss him even. After twelve long, lonely years, they would be together again.

She splashed more water on her face. It was time to get out of here.

Walking through Oscar's flat, however, her brain would not let her move on quite so quickly. She could not resist a one last look around. There was the sofa, where they could have read each other's Ministry papers and complain about Fudge, and the mountain of coffee cups on the table… She sighed. In another universe, a universe where Sirius did not exist, they could have been happy together… But in this universe, she thought as she shut the door behind her, there was no point dwelling on it.

By the time Claudia got home to get some clean clothes, she had managed to put lid on the million emotions that had dominated her morning. It was time for a clear head. She knew a storm was coming. She knew that every step she was going to make from now on was going to be put under a magnifying glass, that she could not do anything out of the ordinary. And there would be nothing quite as suspicious as if she had not turned up for work, so to the Ministry she went.

Claudia could feel a thousand eyes at her when she walked through the Ministry atrium and, predictably, a couple of Hit Wizards were waiting for her before she even got to the reception desk.

"Come with us," one of them said and reached for Claudia's arm.

"Don't you dare touch me," she hissed and threw his arm off. "You might have gotten away with this crap twelve years ago, but I am a Wizengamot member now and you'll treat me as such."

The Hit Wizard hesitated. "Surely you understand the Head Auror needs to talk to you."

"Of course, I do. And he'll be able to find me in my office." She did not wait for the Hit Wizards to respond, pushed past him and hurried towards the Department of Mysteries.

Within twenty minutes, the Head Auror stormed into her office, followed closely by four of his subordinates, one of which (to Claudia's absolute horror) was Oscar.

"Has Black been in touch?" the Head Auror barked.

Right, Claudia thought, we are not doing the pleasantries. "No," she replied.

"Where could he be hiding?"

"I have no idea."

"Where were you last night?"

"Home." That was a gamble. Oscar could have already told him where she was, in which case all this lie would do would be to shoot her credibility.

"Alone?"

Claudia caught Oscar's unreadable expression in the corner of her eye and did not hesitate- "Yes. I was alone."

The Head Auror hummed and scratched his chin.

"What exactly do you think I've done?" Claudia smirked, desperate to move the conversation along before Oscar confessed everything. "Broke him out of Azkaban?" she said with a chuckle. "How could I possible have done that?"

"You have a motive, you have resources," a burly man in his fifties, who stood right on the Head Auror's shoulder, barked. "We need to consider all possibilities-"

Claudia had enough. She had done plenty of things the Auror Office was sure to have a problem with, but there was something quite annoying about being accused of a crime she had not actually committed. "Go consider your possibilities somewhere else. This meeting is over."

"I have some more questions," the burly man spoke again.

"Are you going to arrest me?"

"No."

"Then I'm not going to answer them. Take your fucking fishing expedition and go."

"Miss Avery," the Head Auror's voice echoed around the room. "I don't think you quite appreciate the trouble you're in- You yourself have been under suspicion. Do I need to remind-"

"Stop patronising me, you-!" Claudia hissed, stopping herself from calling the Head Auror an old fool. "What I appreciate is that you have nothing on me, and I would request you get the hell out."

The Head Auror stared at her for a moment, a rather large vein was pulsating on his head. Then, as fast as he came, he turned around and stormed out of Claudia's office. His team followed without another word. Oscar was the last to leave, closing the door behind them all with slight shake of a head.

Claudia returned his gesture with a shrug. Then, she locked the door, determined to hide in her office for the rest of the day. She easily had enough stuff to read to last her a week, let alone a day.

"Miss Avery?" Auberon summoned the courage to ask halfway through the afternoon. "This Black business-"

Claudia kept staring at whatever it was she was reading. "I will only say this once, so pay attention," she whispered. "Yes, we were engaged. No, I don't know where he is." She put her quill down and looked up at her assistant. "And if you let anyone else into my office to ask questions about him, best measure them for a coffin on their way in."

"Understood."

But no matter how hard Claudia tried to concentrate for the rest of the day, she did not manage to finish a single report she found on her desk. All she could think about was Sirius. How did he manage to escape from that place when no one else ever did? When was he going to get home?

Her heart began to race. One day soon, he would just turn up either at home or some place that meant something to them. Hampstead Heath, where they had their first kiss, or that bench where he found her after she learned the truth about Barraclough's death. Maybe he was there already-

She jumped from her chair and strode out of her office. "I'm going for a walk-" she muttered to Auberon. "Don't expect me back."

But there was no sign of Sirius at any of the places she could think of, not even the Potter's old house in Winchester. Claudia tried to keep calm. He had only just escaped. It was bound to take a while before he made it to London. Failing not to get overly frustrated, she went home and on the stairs in front of her flat, she found a different person altogether.

"Bit of a déjà vu this…" she mumbled as she stepped over Oscar's legs to open the door to her flat. He was one of the few people still alive who knew where she lived and could find the place. "If you came to yell at me, I've been yelled at enough by your boss today," she added as she let him in.

"You shouldn't have lied to him."

"And watch you get ridiculed, taken off the case, and possibly fired?" she whispered. "No, I could not have that on my conscience."

Oscar sighed. "I can't believe I'm about to say this… But thank you."

Claudia smiled at him, rather happy he was not mad at her anymore. "Sirius isn't the only person that's worth lying for."

Oscar slumped into the sofa.

Claudia sat down next to him. "What a mess…"

"Oh, come on." He patted her on the back. "We managed to forget about sleeping together once before, we can do it again…"

"Still, I don't want you to think I wasn't being genuine," she whispered. "If I could take it all back, I would."

"I wouldn't," he shrugged. "It was pretty fun…"

Claudia looked at him and laughed. "I was meaning to ask… Who was that charming man the Head Auror brought with him?"

"That was my Head of Division, Granville Lace. If you could at all manage, try not to piss him off too much. He's not one to take prisoners."

"Neither am I."

"Quite-"

They sat in an awkward silence for a long, long time until Claudia saw that Oscar's eyes darted towards the picture of her and Sirius on the wall near the fireplace.

"I shouldn't be here…" he mumbled.

"You shouldn't. I'm sure they're watching me…"

Oscar looked towards the window. "I've authorised the surveillance myself. They'll be here any minute." He stood up and walked over to the door. Just before he opened it, he turned. "Whatever you're about to do, please be careful. Moody saved you from Azkaban before. I'm not sure I will be able to do the same."

"Thanks for the warning-" That was the best Claudia could come up with. It would not have been right to make any false promises to him.

Oscar left and apparated away, and she walked over to look out of the window. A couple of not very well disguised Hit Wizards just emerged from round the corner.

Claudia made a pot of coffee and sat down on the little dining table that stood right under the window. She would not want Sirius to be outnumbered by those Hit Wizards in case he turned up home.

Keeping watch meant that Claudia got very little sleep that night, before setting off to visit her godson whose birthday it was the day prior.

At the Longbottom residence, however, she was not welcomed by a beaming Neville but rather by Augusta wearing a sour expression on her face. "You shouldn't be here-" she hissed.

"And what exactly do you imagine I've done?"

"Oh, you've done plenty," Augusta replied and angrily shoved the Daily Prophet into Claudia's hands. "And I am not going to be the one who tells Neville about it."

Claudia's eyes landed at the article that Neville's grandmother was unmistakably referring to.

'Black's fiancée under suspicion

The Auror Office is speaking to all of Black's old associates and none of them are under more scrutiny than his fiancée, Claudia Avery. Those who remember the events of Voldemort's downfall might wonder why Avery, a suspected Death Eater herself, is still walking free.

That injustice is nothing, however, compared to what allowances the Ministry had given her since. How could they give a seat on the Wizengamot to the person who was closest to the most notorious murderer that ever graced these islands? Promote her to the Head of the Department of Mysteries even?

The official Ministry line is that Avery is a capable official who had given great service to the Ministry. Our sources inside the Ministry say otherwise. They claim that Fudge seems besotted with her. Whether he is under Imperio, or a love potion, remains to be seen.'

"They overpromoted me," Claudia smirked as she finished the article. It was so ridiculous; she could not even get angry. "My boss is going to be jealous."

"Take this seriously!"

Claudia sighed. Augusta was right. She had to take it seriously for Neville's sake. "Did he see this?"

"He knows he escaped, but no more. I hid this one."

"Thank you," Claudia whispered.

"But I will not be able to hide this from him forever. He's going to school soon, people will talk."

"I'll tell him today."

"He's in the sitting room."

Claudia shuffled towards the sitting room. "Happy Birthday, Nev–" she said as cheerfully as she could when she entered the room where her godson sat reading. "I got you something," she added and passed him a rather large package containing an old and rare herbarium. Neville shrieked when he unwrapped it and started flicking through it immediately.

"Nev," Claudia whispered and gently closed it for him. "I need to talk to you about something." Instantly, Neville looked like a hare who spotted a predator. She forced a smile to try reassuring him. "You know that someone called Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban."

"Yeah, the dangerous murderer. What of it?" Neville went pale… "Is he after me?"

"No," Claudia shook her head. "He's not after you."

Neville looked immensely relieved. "Then why do you need to talk to me about him?"

"I need to talk to you about him because him being in the papers means I will be in the papers." She took a deep breath. This was not easy. "Because Sirius Black was my boyfriend."

"What?" Neville gasped. "When?"

"For a long time. We were friends at school and fell in love. We were going to get married before-" she trailed off.

"But he's a Death Eater, a mass murder! Gran said so."

"No one knows what happened that night, not really," Claudia whispered. "He never stood trial. Look- I'm not here to convince you about his innocence. I just wanted to tell you before you read about it in the Prophet."

Neville looked like as if a thousand questions were formulating in his head. And after some time, he finally spoke.

"Did he? You know, my parents…" he mumbled. "The paper said his cousin is Bellatrix Lestrange-" he trailed off, biting his lip.

"No!" Claudia nearly burst into tears. She put her arm around Neville. "Sirius went to Azkaban well before they were attacked. And he loved your parents. He would never-" she choked on her own words and desperately try to wipe of her eyes. It broke her heart that this was how Neville talked about the man who should have raised him, the man who should have been his second father. "I promise you. He would never harm them, or you…"

Neville had never seen his godmother cry and looked completely petrified by this sudden burst of emotion.

"I want to be honest with you, Nev." Claudia continued when he said nothing. "If you have any other questions about it."

Neville shook his head.

"Alright then. Now, do you want me to tell you what's so special about this herbarium?"

Neville, visibly relieved by the change of topic, nodded.

"It's the one that the Unspeakeables use. I managed to snag an old copy. It's got plants that won't even be mentioned in your regular textbooks."

"That's awesome."

Neville made it about three pages in before his grandmother joined them, bringing a pot of tea, which they drank while talking about plants and avoiding the subject of Sirius. After Claudia left Augusta's house, she did another round of the usual spots where Sirius could possibly be waiting for her. But, just like last time, they were all deserted. No Sirius, no note, no sign he had been there. She did the same on Sunday morning, and then again Sunday afternoon. She was desperate to see him, talk to him, look into those eyes again. But she was starting to think that maybe he did not feel the same way… The mere suggestion- No, she stopped her brain from going there, that was impossible. No way did he not love her after all this time.

When Claudia got to work on Monday morning, Auberon swiftly informed her that Agrippa would like to see her at her earliest convenience. Expecting the worst, she knocked on the door to his office and entered.

"Umbridge came to see me…" Agrippa said without as much as a good morning.

Claudia sighed. "That can't be good."

"It isn't," Agrippa replied. His face was totally unreadable. "They suspect he had help from the outside. And you have no proof you were at home that night… I don't believe you helped him escape for a second, but Umbridge wants you gone, she made that abundantly clear."

"I'll pack up my office then."

"That's my decision, not hers, and you aren't going anywhere… But-" Agrippa paused. Of course there was a but. "She doesn't want you attending the Board anymore. And you cannot touch any of the Department of Mysteries' work on the Black investigation. And I'd stay away from the Wizengamot for the time being…"

"But if I can't attend the Board, what use am I to you?"

"I'll manage until it blows over. You will handle the rest of the Department's business."

"Are you sure you'll manage?"

"I'll do my best." Agrippa sunk into his chair. "Not sure how though. At the last Board, we spent four hours discussing whether Fudge should tell the muggle Prime Minister about Black."

"Must have been fun," Claudia uttered.

"Oh, speaking of fun." Agrippa smiled for the first time since the conversation began. "I owed Dumbledore a favour…"

"Right…" Claudia uttered, her internal alarm bells ringing at full volume.

"Professor McGonagall is coming to see you about it tomorrow." He was nearly chuckling.

Claudia did not like it one bit. "Are you going to tell me more than that?"

"Why ruin the surprise?"

"So, this is my punishment-" Her expression turned sour.

"Quite."

Claudia only had to wait twenty-four hours for Professor McGonagall's visit. It felt quite strange, having one's old Transfiguration teacher sitting in one's office. It made Claudia feel rather old.

"The Headmaster has written to Agrippa already," the Professor began. "He would like to borrow a time turner for a student, so that she can take more lessons than her timetable allows."

Claudia's eyes narrowed. "Isn't that a bit extreme? Can't you just tell her to pick the classes that are possible to take?"

"I have tried," Professor McGonnagall said with a hint of exhaustion in her voice. "But she's a little stubborn..."

"That's not necessarily a bad thing, is it?" Claudia smirked. Stubbornness was one of her better qualities.

"Miss Granger is an exceptional student, top marks in all the subjects. She's waiting outside. Dumbledore said you would want to meet her before you authorised the time turner."

Claudia frowned a little. Who was Dumbledore to say that she would authorise it? "What kind of company does she keep?"

"I thought you might ask that." The tired McGonagall was back. "She's friends with Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter- they're inseparable."

Claudia could scarcely believe her ears. "You want to give a time turner to someone who's friends with James' son?"

"He's a lot like his mother too-"

"I've heard about the car..."

"The James in him has his moments..."

"We don't just hand out time turners to kids," Claudia said. "I'm not exactly comfortable with this-"

"I understand. But Dumbledore seemed to have agreed with Agrippa that it was possible. He just sent me here to pick it up…"

Claudia sighed. She did not appreciate having her hands tied like this. "I know, I know... If two old men make a mad plan, who are we to argue with it?" She rang the bell to tell Auberon to bring Miss Granger in.

To Claudia's enormous surprise, Professor McGonagall chuckled at that remark. "I am so pleased to see you're doing well," she changed the subject as they waited.

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?"

McGonagall smiled. "Remus is going to come and teach this year… I'm sure he mentioned. I remember you two were close."

"Good for him," Claudia mumbled. That was all she could bring herself to say. Of course, he did not mention… How could have he? They had not spoken in twelve years!

But she was saved from having to explain any of that by the arrival of the student and her parents. "This is Hermione Granger and-" Professor McGonagall began to introduce them when the girl interrupted.

"I am so glad for this opportunity. I was trying to decide which subjects to take but they all sound so interesting! I cannot imagine not being able to-"

Claudia silenced the girl with a gesture. She only had one coffee this morning and no way that was enough to pretend she cared about a speech the kid had prepared. "Professor McGonagall explained all that. What I want to know is this…" she paused and stared into the girl's eyes, hoping to ruffle her up. But it was pointless. Hermione's focus was unyielding. "Time magic is serious business. You must keep the existence of the time turner a secret from your friends. Are you sure you'll be able to do that?"

Hermione paused for a second and then, biting her lip, nodded.

"This is very important. If you start showing it off to people, you will be in a lot of trouble. Not just with Professor McGonagall, but with the Ministry too."

"I understand," Hermione whispered.

"And there will rules. No going back to give yourself more time to finish an essay. No using it to fix your mistakes. And you must keep it on your person at all times."

Hermione was nodding vigorously.

"And most important of all – you must not be seen twice. Always make sure you have a safe place to unify the timelines again. I think we have a booklet somewhere on how to do it." Claudia was slowly giving up on the notion she could fight Dumbledore and Agrippa on this, and there really were not that many more things she could get the girl to promise her. "I will also ask our specialists to limit the use of the time turner to three hours," she finally relented. "Auberon will take you to see them. They'll explain how to use it."

"Thank you."

"Don't make me regret this."

With several more thank yous, Hermione, her parents, and Professor McGonagall left, and Claudia was left alone once more. Dealing with these external visits was not one of her favourite activities. But if she knew how frustrating the next few weeks were going to be, she would have appreciated handing over the time turner more.

Every day, a different auror came to ask her a question about Sirius. Did he have any relatives in Lancashire? Did James Potter ever cross him in any way? Did he have affairs? The questions were getting more ridiculous by the day- Was he sleeping with Lily? Was he Voldemort's son?

Besides the aurors harassing her, she had absolutely nothing to do. People went out of their way to cut her out of things and avoid her like the plague. Agrippa even nudged her to leave the Council of Twelve before they got to discuss Sirius, which was so humiliating she spent the rest of the week considering resigning. Three coffee cups and a chair paid with their lives for Claudia's anger that afternoon.

But the true reason behind Claudia's foul mood was that there was still no sign of Sirius, and she was seriously starting to think that he was not going to try to get in touch. Which crushed her spirit more than the aurors' intrusive questions or Agrippa's insensitivity ever could.

Towards the end of the month, Agrippa called Claudia into his office. Édith, the Head Auror and Granville Lace were there.

The Head Auror was the one who spoke first. "Ms Dubois here has brought to my attention a possible way to track Black before he gets to that Potter boy."

Claudia folded her arms across her chest. This whole thing was ridiculous and nothing more so than the idea that Sirius was trying to kill his godson. "I thought I was not allowed to participate in your attempts to catch him," she hissed.

The Head Auror looked at Édith, who was vigorously looking at anything but Claudia's face. "Ms Dubois will explain."

"There are ancient spells allowing you to locate a soulmate. Real ancient magic. I think-" she paused and finally met Claudia's eye– "I think it might work for you."

"We want it performed right now," Granville interjected.

"Well, you wouldn't let me finish before," Édith whispered. "It's not possible right now. There is a jewel of sorts that is needed for the spell to work."

"Then get it!"

"We don't have it… But we think Cassandra Trelawney may have had one. The jewel mythologically belonged to Psyche – women turned goddess of the soul. And Trelawney spent a lot of time looking into it all."

"You should speak to her descendants," Granville said. "I can make sure they give you their full cooperation."

Claudia let out an exacerbated sigh. Her cousin was the last person she wanted to see in this moment.

"Get it done." Head Auror added to the pressure and left, Granville in tow.

Claudia looked at Édith and then at Agrippa. "I don't want to do this. You cannot make me."

"Leave us," Agrippa mumbled to Édith. Then, he waited until he was alone with his deputy before resuming. "You have no choice. You are going to offer Édith your full cooperation."

"Or what?"

"Or I cannot have you working here."

"That much for the independence of the Department of Mysteries."

"He will arrest you if you don't cooperate. He told me as much."

Claudia looked at Agrippa for a long time. He was not joking. "Fine, I'll cooperate," she replied, having of course no intention to live up to her promise, and then walked out without waiting for Agrippa's response.

Édith was waiting for Claudia in the corridor. "I'm so sorry-" she mumbled the moment Claudia emerged.

"Why did you have to tell the Head Auror about this?" Claudia barked. "Are you really that pissed off with me?"

"I didn't mean to. I'm sorry. It just slipped out before I realised the consequences."

"Great… You know when to find me if you need me."

"I need you now. I need you to get in touch with your cousin."

"Fucking fantastic."

"I really am sorry."

"What good is that to me?"

Under Édith's watchful eyes, Claudia wrote a letter to Sybill, asking for access to their great-great-grandmother's things, and within a week, Claudia, Sybill, Édith and a couple of aurors were standing outside the Trelawney's old family house, described by Sybill as an archive, a museum and a shrine to the greatest seer that ever lived within the space of five minutes.

Claudia and Sybill were standing by the entrance to the storage room, which Édith and the aurors were searching.

"Avery shouldn't be here," one of the aurors hissed. "The boss won't like it."

"You know I can hear you, right?" she replied. "Cassandra Trelawney is my ancestor too. I have more right to be here than any of you."

Sybill cleared her throat somewhat theatrically.

"You excluded," Claudia sighed.

"Claudia," Édith said in that mildly threatening tone Claudia knew so well. "Why don't you go wait in the library?"

"I'm happy here."

The auror jumped to his feet and stood over her. "It's the library or our holding cell!"

Claudia glanced at Édith, who did not look like she was at all inclined to jump to her ex's aide. "Fine," she mumbled and stomped off to the library. "You were the ones who wanted my fucking cooperation…" she muttered.

The noises from the next room provided her with some entertainment for the next hour or so, as she nervously paced around the library, wondering how she was going to sabotage them if she was not allowed to observe what they were doing. Sybill's shrieks of "don't touch that!" and "be careful!", combined with the auror's growling and Édith French cursing were making sure Claudia was not the most miserable person around… And that had cheered her up.

Feeling a little better, Claudia began to browse the shelves of the library. There were dozens of black leather-bound notebooks. Some with Cassandra's prophecies, some with notes from her travels, some with diary entries. It was all a rather odd feeling, reading these ancient notes in handwriting that bore uncanny resemblance to Claudia's own.

At the end of the bookshelf, Claudia found a couple of notebooks marked as 'soulmate research'. She took them off the shelf, sat in one of the armchairs and opened the thicker one. It became apparent rather quickly that Cassandra was unhappy in her marriage and was plagues by visions about a soulmate.

Towards the end of the first notebook – full of different theories of how soulmates were created and what powers the bond possessed - was a drawing of a round, pinkish jewel. This must have been what Édith was looking for. With a sigh, Claudia picked up the second notebook-

It felt odd, much heavier despite not being as thick. Surely, it could not have been?

Claudia took out her wand and casted ever revealing charm she knew. And lo and behold. The back cover of the notebook opened, and Claudia found herself staring at what was unmistakably the soulmate jewel.

She turned it over in her hands… How easy was that?

"-to make way for a new dawn," a hoarse voice interrupted her triumph.

Claudia jumped to her feet, clumsily hiding the jewel behind her back. Sybill was staring at her. Or rather through her.

"What are you talking about?" Claudia whispered, trying desperately to figure out whether Sybill saw what she held in her hands a second ago.

"Only the one which carries its light inside them can ignite it-" Sybill seemed in some kind of trance. She was taller, more rigid. Her usual ethereal demeanour was gone. But Claudia was preoccupied with hiding the jewel in her pocket and struggled to pay attention to Sybill's nonsense. "-When Death rolls its dice, eternal peace or earthly suffering will come."

Claudia went to shake Sybill but to no avail. Was she possessed?

"As long as they both live... Eternal peace or earthly suffering will come… When Death rolls its dice…" her cousin crumbled, then blinked twice. "What am I doing here?" she added in her normal pitch of voice.

Then, it occurred to Claudia. Was that a real prophecy? Must have been! Still, it was hard to believe that her fraud of a cousin was a real seer… It was more likely she had temporarily lost control of her mind and babbled something incomprehensible.

"I think we are going to call it a day," Édith said as she entered the room. Her eyes narrowed instantly, and she addressed Claudia directly. "There is something very odd about you right now." Édith's emphatic abilities were as sharp as ever.

"If you must know," Claudia dropped her voice to a whisper. Sybill still seemed even stranger than usual, and was now wandering the perimeter of the library. "My cousin just made a prophecy. It made no sense to me, but it was still pretty exciting to see something like that in real time."

"What was it about?"

"Something about death's dice and eternal suffering…" Claudia said, glad the prophecy provided a suitable explanation for the excitement she felt about finding the soul jewel. "Did not seem especially specific."

"That does sound exciting." Édith said, then smiled. "Do you want to get dinner tonight? As a thank you for not undermining my efforts at every turn."

"I don't think so- Thanks for the offer though."

Soon enough, everyone left, and Claudia found herself alone in front of Cassandra's house. She hurried towards the nearby woods. With shaking hands, she took out the soul jewel from her pocket and stared into it. The image was as clear as day - a silhouette of a dog, flashing lights. She strained her eyes, but could not see anything that could help her identify where he was… There was only one thing for it. She gripped the jewel, fixated on the image and apparated.

Claudia landed on the side of a motorway. It was dark, it was raining. The noise from the cars and the headlights made it hard to focus and to see. But then, behind a shrub, she saw a large black dog baring his teeth at her, ready to pounce.

"Sirius," Claudia whispered, and her hand flew towards her mouth. She could barely see through the tears that flooded her eyes.

In an instant, the dog transformed and was replaced by a tall figure of a man. His hair was overgrown, his skin was grey, his eyes sunken, but Claudia recognised him instantly by the sad, weak smile that she had seen so many times when things got tough. But it was a smile that always said that everything was going to be alright, because they had each other.

She launched herself towards him, dropping everything she was holding, and flung her arms around his neck.

After a second or two of hesitation, he hugged her back. "Is this how all aurors greet escaped convicts?" His voice was breaking with a thousand emotions.

"Only the innocent ones," she uttered and pressed her face into his bony chest.

He gripped her in a shaky embrace so tightly that she could hardly breathe. "I cant'- I wouldn't-" he stuttered as he stroked her hair. "I wouldn't even let myself hope I'd ever hear you say that."