"Why, why did you put on that ring? It carries a curse, surely you realized that. Why even touch it?...It is the sort of curse which strengthens over time."

- J.K. Rowling, The Deathly Hallows, Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter 15: The Curse

On September the first, after a scramble to reunite Harry's scattered belongings (which Kara had been packing all week, but Harry had somehow managed to distribute over the whole of the house again), Professor Lupin and Harry Potter were dropped off at King's Cross station, kissed and hugged by Kara and roughly embraced by Sirius, and departed for the wilds of Scotland via the Hogwarts Express.

Sirius and Kara looked at each other ruefully and set off in opposite directions to their respective jobs.

Kara had returned to the Leaky Cauldron weeks ago to an abrupt silence, which ended only after she and Tom had stared down every last patron, one at a time. The glances hadn't ended, not really, only they quickly became more subtle. Aside from her work, Kara had always lived in the margins of wizarding society, much like her werewolf roommate. And though they were no doubt curious about the seemingly innocuous bartender who had defeated You-Know-Who, the majority of witches and wizards seemed content not to look into it too far, and let their prejudices stand.

A sad commentary on human nature, Kara thought, but she preferred to be ignored. She did, however, wonder what Remus thought of it.

She was glad the air was chilling, and she could go back to long sleeves. Her burn scars were a constant reminder to all who saw them, and she didn't want them reminded.

Sirius was starting his first day back in the Auror office late, but a lot of Ministry workers were late on September first. It was practically a wizarding tradition. He was greeted enthusiastically by Tonks, and then informed that he would be shadowing Kinglsey his first week. The irony wasn't lost on anyone.

It wasn't, on the whole, a bad day. Yet it felt strange to be back, as though nothing had happened.

Remus settled into his old office hoping the jinx really was gone for good, and that the arrangement could be permanent this time. He had a feeling that if anything happened Kara would comb the entire castle looking for a way to break the curse.

He fervently hoped she didn't have to. She had better things to be doing. If she and Sirius ever got on with them.

He pulled out his syllabus, forcing his mind off his home and on to what his students needed from him.

It was essential that he focus, and not allow himself to think too much of the young witch with the bright pink hair.

*HP*HP*HP*HP*

For two weeks, Sirius and Kara's schedules were so at odds that they barely spent any waking time in each other's company. Then, miraculously, Kara had a Saturday free, and as they met over their morning cup of tea she announced, "I think we should get started today."

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "The Horcruxes, you mean?"

She nodded. "I had already put the bug in Mad-Eye's ear that we might need his help with a project. He's free today, if you're up for it. I thought we'd start with the ring."

In fact, Kara had been checking in on Mad-Eye regularly since he left Hogwarts. She wasn't the only one. The Weasleys and the Diggorys were as well. In response, Mad-Eye made it quite clear one night that he wouldn't take any more mothering from any of them, at which point he had taken a very looooong swig from his flask, which Kara was quite sure held gin he had brewed in his own bathtub.

She and Amos had looked at each other, then told him to send word via Floo if he needed anything.

But now it was she and Sirius who needed him. More specifically, his never-ending paranoia.

"What are we facing?" Sirius asked calmly. "You said there was some sort of trap?"

"This is the problem. I'm not sure what it is. It's a powerful curse. We shouldn't even touch it, I think, but we'll have to. But removing it might also trigger something. Even entering the house...I really don't know."

Sirius considered. "There are charms...things we can send...ahead, if that makes sense."

"Like magical scouts?"

"Exactly. They'll give us some idea what we're up against. As for touching the item...Mad-Eye might have something in his bag of tricks that can help us."

"Perfect."

"What time are we meeting him?"

"Ten. We can Apparate from his house to the village."

*HP*HP*HP*HP*

Moody listened gravely as Kara explained what little she knew about the curse on the ring. No one should put it on, she knew that much. Muttering to himself, he rummaged through a closet in the narrow hallway that halved his house. He emerged with several objects which Kara did not feel she could satisfactorily describe, much less identify. From Sirius' expression, she suspected he was as much in the dark as she was.

The area around the Gaunt House was disserted. Kara shivered, realizing the graveyard they had fought Peter and Voldemort in was not far. Sirius seemed to sense something of her thoughts, because he grasped her hand briefly. Then he took out his wand and muttered a series of incantations.

Nothing happened.

Sirius grimaced, tried again.

Still, nothing.

Sirius lowered his wand in frustration, as Mad-Eye said, "You spent too long in Azkaban, boy." He raised his own wand, spoke the same words as Sirius had, low and rapid-fire, but this time, a misty form appeared and set off for the abandoned house.

Kara could not identify the animal Mad-Eye's Patronus mimicked. It was mammalian, and not overly large.

Unlike her own Patronus, which she had used only once in its full form, and which only Remus had seen. It revealed far too much of what was in her heart.

She wanted to take Sirius' hand, as he had hers, but the look at his face as he stared after Mad-Eye's Patronus stopped her. Anger, frustration, and behind them all a hollowness. She didn't think she could touch him right now and still focus on the task at hand. And it was essential that they were all alert for this.

The Patronus returned, and Mad-Eye looked grim.

"I think we can touch the object without harm, but we should handle it sparingly. Do not put it on. And we have to get through the spells around the house itself first."

They didn't have a name for the spell on the house. It was darker magic than any of them had studied. But its makeup was clear enough that they were able to fashion a sort of countercurse. It took all three of them, and they had to approach the house from different angles. A fourth person would have been ideal, and Kara found herself wishing Remus was with them. She wished she had told him everything. But she had to be careful.

It was not instant, and as predicted, it took all of her concentration, but then they were through, and the corner where the ring was buried was not difficult to find. It radiated magic, pulsing like a beacon.

Mad-Eye used the tip of his wand to lift the ring free.

The bag they placed it in came from his collection. It was lined with counter spells to keep whatever was inside it contained. Kara slipped it into her pocket, feeling slightly sick, and the three of them Apparated away. They had no wish to linger.

*HP*HP*HP*HP*

In the quiet of their kitchen, Kara put the pouch down on the table and went in search of a glass of whiskey. It was early. She didn't care. She also didn't ask if Sirius wanted one as well. She just poured it for him.

He was already seated when she walked back to the table, and he accepted the drink, meeting her eyes with an expression she had only seen him wear a few times. An expression Remus had described to her when he told her about the events in the Shrieking Shack. It wasn't distrust, not exactly. Or it wasn't distrust of the person Sirius was looking at. It was some firmly held belief, deep inside of himself, some piece of his mind that was never quite convinced...of what? That he was accepted? That he was enough?

Sirius was confident, clever, honest, and kind, but he was not fully trusting. The confidence was in himself alone, not in how he would be received by the world. There was a part of him only James had ever reached, Kara suspected, and found herself, in that moment, severely jealous of her dead friend.

She decided not to dance around the thing in front of them.

"You can't conjure a Patronus."

He shook his head. "Not anymore. I had thought...I had hoped..." He shook his head again and took a long swallow of whiskey.

It hasn't been that long, she thought. You were there for twelve years. Do you expect to heal in a matter of months?

But Sirius had moved on. He nodded to the object on the table.

"You had said Dumbledore would be tempted to use it. How would you use a ring?"

She took a deep breath. "Not the ring itself. The stone that's set in it. Do you remember that old story, about the three brothers?"

Sirius appeared to rack his brain. "The fairy tale?" he said eventually. "The brothers who meet Death at a bridge or something?"

"That's the one. Do you remember what Death gave them?"

"It's been a long time...I know there was an unbeatable wand, and an invisibility cloak...Oh, wasn't there something that could bring back the dead?"

She nodded. She needed a refill of whiskey, and got it, bringing the bottle this time.

Sirius was frowning. "Are you trying to tell me that story is true?"

"I can't say how true the story is, but the objects themselves are very real. And now we've seen all three of them."

Sirius stared at her. "What are you talking about?"

Kara smiled, ever so slightly. "Dumbledore has the Elder Wand. He won it in the duel with Grindelwald, and its allegiance is to him now. Yes, he knows exactly what it is. But I don't think James ever knew that the Invisibility Cloak he used to sneak around Hogwarts was the Invisibility Cloak from the story." At her friend's shocked expression, she said softly. "Think about it. Have you ever seen any other invisibility cloak work so well?"

Eyes wide with wonder, Sirius lifted one hand so that it hovered above the pouch in front of him. "And the stone?"

"The Resurrection Stone."

There was a pain in his eyes, and longing, and she wondered if it had been foolish to tell him. "Don't do it, Sirius. That curse will kill you. It would have killed Dumbledore. Please..."

He withdrew his hand. "I wouldn't do that, Kara. I wouldn't risk it. Not with you and Harry."

An anchor Dumbledore did not have, she realized, and one Voldemort had fully rejected. That, after everything, Sirius had accepted.

Some knot - was it in her stomach, her throat, her heart? It seemed to be everywhere - tightened, and it was a bit before she could speak again.

"In...the story that I knew, Harry used it. He used it right at the end, so that he could speak to you, and James and Lily, and Remus, and so you were all with him when he went to meet Voldemort."

She could see the water gathering in his eyes, knew it was there in her own, and then suddenly he was on his feet and around the table, and he had hauled her from her chair and against him, and his mouth was on hers.

Kara gasped, then rallied, met his lips with her own. His kiss was raw and open, and something about it ached, deep in her heart.

Her body was responding in other ways though. Her arms wrapped around him, and she could feel that pull deep within her, drawing her closer to him, desperate, as if they could not be close enough. He had one hand fisted in her hair, not ungently, and the other against the small of her back, holding her against him.

When they broke apart, just so, still holding each other, Sirius was shaking, and Kara knew, somehow, that some part of him still wasn't ready for this. So she rested her hand, palm against his chest, high enough that she could reach out her fingers to just brush the edge of his jaw, and she met his gaze.

All of the hollowness of Azkaban was in his eyes, and a thousand other hurts and fears, and over it all his desperation for her. It was a test, though she didn't think he knew it. She did not look away.

And slowly the wildness in his eyes softened, and he took her face between his hands and kissed her again, softly this time. When he pulled away, they were both calmer. Kara felt as though they had come out on the other side of a storm.

*HP*HP*HP*HP*

It was not a thing they spoke about. They went about their quiet life the rest of the day. Kara sent a message to Dumbledore, letting him know that they had been successful with the first part of their task. Sirius and Kara talked about the next Horcrux, the one at Grimmauld Place. She had a weekend free in two weeks. They would go when he got out of work that Friday, and once they had that one they might as well take them to Hogwarts and fetch the Diadem. Gringotts would have to wait. Bill would be home for Christmas, Kara had learned from Molly. But they could destroy what they had.

She hid the pouch with the ring with the scrying mirror, running her finger over its rim. She was entrusting it to the mirror, she explained. Keep it safe. The mirror acknowledged the task like an eager child given an adult chore for the first time.

When they went to bed, Sirius pulled her very close to him, and feeling, bold, she reached up to kiss his cheek before tucking herself against him, one arm over his chest.

She was awake a long time in the dark, wondering what demons were still knocking at the back of his head.