Remus' POV

I peeked into the kitchen. It was one in the morning, and the kitchen was empty. I let out a sigh of relief and then dumped all of applications on the table. I'd finished them all in my bedroom, but I needed a place to spread them out and review them before I put them in envelopes and sent them off. I hadn't wanted Sirius or Raylynx to see what I was up to.

It took me about an hour to organize everything and stamp all of the envelopes shut. Tucking the small pile of envelopes under my arm, I made to go to my room, when I noticed a small figure sitting by the doorway of the master bedroom.

Raylynx? I paused. What's going on? Is something wrong with Buckbeak?

I walked over quietly, only to find that she was sleeping, her head resting on her knees. I peered inside the room only to find Sirius also asleep, with his back against Buckbeak, who was also – yes, sleeping.

I sighed.

More than ever, I wished James was here. He would know what to say. He would know how to break through Sirius' and Raylynx's impossible barriers. He would know how to explain that Raylynx and Sirius had been mirror images these past twelve years. Of course, Sirius had actually suffered through Azkaban. There was no denying that. But it would be a mistake to say that Raylynx had been free during those same twelve years. I thought about how she struggled with the guilt of being unable to get him out of Azkaban, and the fear that it was her fault if Sirius lost his mind and rotted away in Azkaban. I thought about how she had only allowed herself to let go a little after she came to me and confronted me as to whether Sirius was alive in my mind or not. She'd cried like I'd never seen her cry before. But I couldn't bring myself to tell Sirius these things. For one, I didn't know how to put it all into words in a way that he would understand. I also felt as though I might be betraying Raylynx's pride and strength if I accidentally made her out to be this person who'd spent all twelve years pining for Sirius, because that also certainly wasn't true.

But then, there was an even more pressing reason why I kept my mouth shut. It was simply that I could not tell Sirius to act a certain way when I knew I wouldn't myself. I knew Sirius felt that he didn't deserve Raylynx. And yes, I knew that I should tell him to man up, that she loved him anyways, and tell him about how she had never stopped loving him. I knew this, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Because the truth was, I so deeply understood Sirius. I, too, would likely run away from anyone who thought they truly loved me. If someone genuinely cared about me, I'd run away from them to make sure they didn't suffer for me, so that they would wake up and come to their senses and realize what a poor choice I was to be in a relationship with. This degree of utter hypocrisy kept me from saying the things I wanted to tell Sirius,

Stepping carefully around Raylynx, I made my way up to Sirius and Buckbeak. Buckbeak, sensing my movement, blinked and looked up. I carefully put my hand on his side and gently patted him, encouraging him to go back to sleep. Then I bent down next to Sirius.

"Sirius."

He stirred. He had always been a light sleeper.

"You're being stupid," I said pointedly. I sighed and admitted, "Well, at least that's what Prongs would say."

Sirius blinked, confused. "Merlin, Moons, did you wake me up just to tell me that?" he mumbled. He turned slightly, repositioning his back against Buckbeak, and closed his eyes again. "You can tell me what I did wrong in the morning…"

"I think you should get up now," I stressed.

"I can't fix my stupidity in a night," Sirius muttered, turning his face away from me. "Give me time..."

"No," I said, frustrated. "Sirius, you have to do something about this."

"What?" he said, a little hoarsely.

I jerked my head over my shoulder. He looked over and could just make out Raylynx's silhouette poking out from the doorway. "Is that-?"

"Yes."

Sirius got up off the ground and walked over to Raylynx. Reaching down, he slid one of his arms under her and the other one behind her back and gently lifted her. It surprised me how strong Sirius still was, given how thin he had become. But he picked her up easily.

"Sirius," I said quietly. Unable to quite meet his eyes, I nonetheless forced myself to say, "She got stuck, too."

Sirius didn't say anything. His brow furrowed. He looked down at Raylynx in his arms, and his expression softened slightly. He stood there, wavering between loving her openly and loving her in secret.

Finally, he said, "Go to sleep, Moons. I'll take her back to bed." And he carried her back to her bedroom.


Sirius' POV

Raylynx's bedroom door was already half-open. I gently pushed it all the way open with my back before stepping into her room. The room was filled with stacks and stacks of parchment. I had to step quite carefully to avoid knocking any of them over. Merlin, I thought. She must take Ancient Runes very seriously. When I stepped over a particularly tall stack of papers, she stirred a little in my arms.

I gently set her down on the bed. I tried to pull her blanket over her, but she protested a little in her sleep, possibly because she was already warm enough. "No… Don't want…" she moaned slightly and struggled against the blanket.

I sighed and let her push it away. "What am I going to do with you?" I murmured, bending down beside her bed to look at her.

At this, Raylynx blinked slightly, her eyelashes fluttering a little and casting small delicate shadows under her eyes.

"Sirius…?" she mumbled sleepily. She reached out and grasped my arms loosely, pressing her hands against my arms and gripping uncertainly at the fabric covering my arms. I neither responded nor moved away.

She was falling asleep again, but still subconsciously trying to hold onto me. Her hands slipped from my arms to my chest, grasping weakly at my shirt. Then, I heard her murmur, "You didn't… You didn't come find me either."

"Sirius..." She whispered my name, and then her soft breathing sounded out lightly as she lapsed back into sleep.

Reaching down, I gently slid my shirt out of her hands and taking her wrists loosely in my hands, I moved her hands away from me. "I did," I whispered, confessing. "I did come find you. That's how I know you don't need me."

I watched her sleeping for a moment. I hadn't exactly been lying when I implied that I didn't love her in exactly the same way anymore. She was still the same person, yes – and the core of what I felt for her was exactly the same, she was right about that. But ever since I'd come back to live with her and Remus again, I couldn't help except notice how much she had grown. Remus had said that she had also been stuck, fallen behind. But how was that possible, when she'd grown into herself so much since I'd last seen her? And if what he said was true, then she shouldn't hold herself back any longer for my sake, even just as friends. She should move on and find her full potential. She was brilliant, and she was going to be even more amazing in the future. I could see that. And she deserved it. After so many years of looking after others, she deserved to find her own life – and to really own it. And if I was the one who was in her way, then, I couldn't stand in her way and call it love.

Even if she was someone I wanted... Even if she was the one I wanted most of all... Unable to help myself, I gently reached out and brushed her hair back from her face. I wished I could press my hand against her lovely face, and then trace her - her neck, her shoulders, her waist...

But she wasn't mine anymore, and that was as it should be. I didn't deserve her. I got up and left, returning to my own room to stare up sleeplessly at Jamie's old Quidditch posters.

"How much trouble are you in? Is Ray going to be in trouble too? Because you see, I can't really allow that. … So, I'm going down the dishonest route here and putting pressure on you, if you get me."


Raylynx's POV

I woke up early the next day. I'd had a strange, blurry dream. I thought I'd been holding onto Sirius in my dream, pulling him closer to me. I shook my head. You're going mad. Pull yourself together now.

I washed up and got dressed, pulling on my cloak last. I took Sirius' list of things he'd thought of for Harry and put it in my pocket. Then, I grabbed my wand and left the house.

I headed to Diagon Alley.

As I passed Ollivander's, I paused. Mr. Ollivander… It had been such a long time since I'd seen him. I peeked into the shop through the window. It seemed empty.

I slowly opened the door and stepped inside. I closed my eyes as I felt the wonderful, dancing atmosphere of secret magic whispering in the air. Ollivander's shop was still my favorite place in the world. A peaceful smile appeared on my face as I felt myself relax.

"How may I help you?" Ollivander's thin, silvery voice sounded out quietly from behind the shelves.

I opened my eyes just as he appeared.

"Ah, Ms. Kingsley."

"Mr. Ollivander," I returned.

I expected him to remain distant with me, as he had been with me ever since I'd left my assistant's post here. But I felt no resentment whatsoever towards Mr. Ollivander. Because taking on an assistant as a wandmaker was akin to taking in a child, in many ways. Wand secrets were closely guarded secrets, generally only passed down to a single child in the family. The secrets of Ollivander's wand making were secrets his bloodline had passed down from generation to generation. For me, an outsider, to learn some of those secrets and then to turn my back on him was a deep, deep betrayal. And then, Ollivander had still been forgiving enough to help me when I needed it most. He'd exchanged the King's Wand with me to help me track down Sirius the day after Lily and James' deaths, and he had written out proof of Sirius' wand for me. Therefore, however cold he acted towards me, I would take it willingly. Besides, I was forever grateful to Ollivander for opening up a realm of magic that I felt at one with. The hours I had spent in his shop, learning about wand-making from him, seeing how he treated light and dark magic equally, and witnessing how he tried to accept every one of his customers with an open mind and a sharp eye - all of these experiences made me think more deeply about the nature of magic.

It startled me, then, when Ollivander put his hand on my arm and said in a most relieved tone, "Dear girl, you're all right."

I blinked. "Am I not supposed to be?"

He chuckled lightly. "I was worried for you," he said. "I knew you had Sirius Black's wand, you see. I was afraid he would go after you."

"Oh," I said. I paused. "Well, I'm fine, sir, as you see."

"Then, how may I help you? Surely, you came here for something," Ollivander said, resuming his position behind the countertop.

"Not today," I said. "Actually, sir, I just came in to see you."

The corner of Ollivander's mouth lifted. "Well, since you're here, let's have a look at your wand, shall we?"

I drew out my wand and laid it before him.

He performed his usual examination. He nodded and he said, "Physically, it's in much the same shape. The wood has been well cared-for. I expected nothing less from you. But there are fractures deep within its wood, as there have been for many years now. There must have been times that you did not use it as it was intended."

"I imagine so," I said quietly.

Ollivander ran his finger lightly down the length of my wand. "Ms. Kingsley, your wand tells me that you do not rely on it fully."

My eyebrows raised, surprised that Ollivander could pick up on that from such a quick examination of my wand. "It's true," I admitted. "Ever since I switched back to it, I've relied half of my magic on wandless magic… I only channel half my magic through the wand itself."

Ollivander tutted, unimpressed. "Wands are meant to be used," he said sternly. "You are disrespecting it – and me - by not chasing its full potential."

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry."

He began to hand my wand back to me. However, when I reached out to take it from him, his eyes flashed.

"Let me see your wrist," he said suddenly.

Unsure of what he meant to do, I obliged anyways, holding out my hand, upturned, to reveal my wrist. I glanced down at my own wrist, knowing what I would see: that old scar was still there – an ugly, angry W shape.

Ollivander's eyes flashed. He pressed his forefinger to my scar and closed his eyes.

"Sir, what-?"

"Quiet."

He seemed deeply attuned to some energy that I couldn't understand, even though, from the looks of it, that energy might be coming from my own body.

Finally, Ollivander opened his eyes. He looked down at me and whispered, "Most curious."

"What is?" I asked.

"The days have long passed since I took it upon myself to answer your questions," Ollivander replied dryly. But his eyes were warm as he told me, "Go, now. Leave before the Aurors return from their break."

Still confused, I nonetheless bowed and left the shop.

When I left, Ollivander stood there for a long moment, thinking hard. Then, he suddenly dashed to the back of his shop. He began to move boxes with a frenzy and when that wasn't quick enough for him, he pulled out his own wand, a truly beautiful wand, and flicked it. Rows of boxes moved aside at once. He reached deep into the shelf and pulled out an old, dusty box. Holding his breath with anticipation, he slowly removed the cover of the old wand box.


When I stepped out of Ollivander's shop, still a bit foggy in the head, I bumped straight into someone who was about to enter Ollivander's.

"Oh, sorry, I-" My words died on my lips as I realized that it was Lucius Malfoy.

Lucius had already felt affronted by whoever had so carelessly run into him. Upon seeing that it was me, his lip positively curled in disgust. "Well, well, what was it? Ah, yes, Professor."

"Lucius."

"Congratulations," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

I made to move past him when he grabbed my upper arm and held me there. He raised an eyebrow at me and murmured, "How thrilled you must be, to know that that disgraceful blood traitor has managed to escape Azkaban. I would have thought it impossible, what with his overwhelming idiocy that allowed us to use him for so many years…"

His eyes glinted victoriously as he boasted in a low, sneering voice, "I'm proud to say that I was the one responsible behind Pettigrew's betrayal."

"What?" I said, startled by his mentioning Peter.

"Yes, I was the one who coaxed him to see that the Dark Lord was right. I've always had... a way with words. Persuasion. A trait that no Mudblood could ever learn, graceless as your breed is."

Ignoring his taunts, I breathed out, "How did you turn Peter? When?"

"It was after the Third Task in the Tournament, years ago," Lucius said. "I'm sure you remember it," he said, smiling malevolently. "After that fiasco in the Shrieking Shack, I – ah, took it upon myself to offer my humble services to Dumbledore to track down those responsible."

"You bastard," I snarled, ripping my arm away from him. "What services could you offer when you were behind it all?"

Lucius' smirk only grew when I insulted him. He was enjoying himself, and saw fit to tell me what happened next, if only to see me suffer. He explained, "When I was at the castle, your little friend, Peter Pettigrew approached me. Of course, at first, it wasn't to join us as much as it was to convince me 'not to hurt his friends.' He said he would do anything to keep them safe."

Lucius laughed cruelly. "Naïve boy. So, I promised I would. I told him that, in exchange for his services, I wouldn't lay a finger on his precious little friends. Because you see, once he began to help us, once he began to pledge his services to our cause, it was so easy to turn him. Because we are right. And we treated him as one of us – praised him, respected him – as his peers never had. And so, he slowly began to see the truth. That ours is a better society, that ours is a more equal society. That while there are Mudbloods, equality can never be achieved. That only by eradication could we truly build a perfect society…"

I was shaking with fury.

"Oh, yes, he had his moments of doubt. Of course, he did - the coward. He lacked conviction through and through, a most spineless worm," Lucius said softly. "But what did it matter when things played out so brilliantly? With him, Dumbledore's front-line fanatics were wiped out. Not just the Potters, but Black as well."

"So, you see? I stayed true to my word," Lucius said, purposefully goading me. "It was your little friend Peter that ultimately decided to kill the Potters. Not I. So before you cast your arrogant little Mudblood glare on me, think twice about why things unfolded the way they did."

"Now," he said briskly, "move aside." He pushed the side of his cane into my waist, shoving me aside.

I roughly grabbed the front of his cloak. He instantly reciprocated by slamming the head of his cane into my stomach. A gasp escaped me as I was forced back.

"How dare you," he snarled, reaching up with his other gloved hand to straighten out his collar. "I won't allow your filthy Mudblood hands to stain my robes."

Inside my cloak, my hand was gripping my wand as I retorted, "What you say about Peter may be true, but you think I don't see right through you, Malfoy? Don't pretend. You're petrified, aren't you? As to what this all means. As to what might happen if Sirius Black reveals what truly happened… If the Dark Lord truly returns, what will you have to say for yourself? Parading yourself around all these years, giving gold to the Ministry, offering your services to the school – You have everything to lose should he come back. Whatever fear I feel is nothing compared to what you're facing. You must have pissed yourself with fear when you heard that Sirius Black escaped."

Lucius hissed angrily. He brought up his cane so swiftly that I didn't see it coming from behind his cloak. It hit me in the mouth, splitting my bottom lip.

Furious, I spat at him and a gob of spit tinged with blood landed on his chest. He growled and began to drag his wand from his cane, but my wand was already out.

"Try me, I dare you," I breathed out. "I'll hex your head right off your neck, snake."

He slowly let go of the jewel-encrusted snake head on his cane, which was also the bottom piece of his wand. Just then, two figures came around the corner.

Lucius' expression cleared and he grinned as he said spitefully, "Ah, shall I report to the Aurors how I found you at a wand shop, when you've clearly no need for one yourself?"

I froze.

Lucius smirked knowingly. He raised his hand at the Aurors.

I shoved him back and ran down the street, my feet pounding the ground.

As soon as I'd turned the corner, I closed my eyes and turned into the all-consuming darkness of Apparition.


Sirius' POV

Remus was dozing on the couch. Thinking back, he'd been up pretty late when he woke me up last night. As it was, I was also napping on the floor next to him. I'd stayed sleepless most of the night. It sounded so stupid that I couldn't sleep on a bed anymore, but after twelve years of sleeping on a stone floor, the idea of sleeping on a bed was like the idea of sleeping on a cloud. In theory, it seemed magical. But in reality, it felt unnerving because your body instinctively feared falling through something so soft.

But we were both snoozing lazily when suddenly, the door burst open.

I leapt to my feet.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Raylynx sprinted down the hallway.

Remus started. His hands waved in the air mindlessly for a moment as he struggled to sit up.

"Sirius!" Raylynx shouted. "Sirius, where are you?"

"In here!" I called.

She skidded into the living room. "Down the trapdoor! Now!"

"What?"

"They're coming!"

"How do you know-?" Remus began, his voice croaky.

"Never mind that," Raylynx said hastily. She got onto her knees and felt for the trapdoor frantically. She pulled it up as fast as she could. Then, she dashed off to get Buckbeak.

"Rayly-" Remus began sleepily. I seized Remus by the front of his shirt, yanking him off the sofa, and dragged him down the steps with me.

"Wait, Sirius-"

"No time, Moony."

"But I-"

Raylynx appeared, frantically guiding Buckbeak down the steps. She turned to me. I realized then that her lower lip was bleeding.

"You know where the secret passageway is, right?" Raylynx asked me worriedly.

I nodded.

"And remember, don't back up into the room," she instructed me. "Hide by the trap door-"

"Yeah, don't worry," I replied, reassuring her. "We didn't forget all the tactical stuff we learned from the war."

Just then, we heard a doorbell ring. It was followed by an aggressive pounding on the door.

Raylynx gave me one last anxious look.

"Go!" I urged.

She darted up the steps and hurriedly shut the trapdoor.

For a long moment, there was just a tense silence, stretched thin, as though on wires.

"I didn't need to be down here, too, Sirius," Remus whispered. He sighed, as he knew he would be more useful upstairs. Raylynx was not exactly the slyest liar.

"Oh, right," I whispered back, "sorry."

We heard voices approaching, and we quickly fell dead silent. Behind us, Buckbeak's breathing could be heard. But he seemed to sense that this was a dangerous situation and also kept silent along with Remus and me.


Raylynx's POV

I put my hand on my heart for a moment, willing it to slow down. Then, trying to appear serene, I opened the door.

Savage grinned me up at me. "Hello, rebel."

Behind him, Proudfoot looked uncomfortably at the ground.

"Savage? What brings you here?"

"Don't play dumb," he said. "You know why we're here."

Proudfoot sighed and stepping up, he looked directly at me and said, "We've been ordered to search your house. Here's the warrant."

I looked at the document he was holding up. It was signed: Rufus Scrimgeour.

Without waiting for me, they shouldered their way in.

"Nice place," Savage said, looking into the rooms.

"Savage, please," Proudfoot sighed. "Stay focused on the mission."

My heart was still going a hundred miles an hour, but I tried to play it off casually and attempted to start a chat with Savage.

"So, what have you been up to lately?" I asked, following him.

"What d'you think?" Savage responded, kicking open the door to Sola's room with overdramatic gusto.

I sighed. "Savage, I get that you're excited, but please don't ruin my house."

Savage chuckled, and then he answered my original question. "We've been on the hunt for that dog Black ever since he escaped. Mad-Eye's got us over at Ollivander's. Originally, it was Shacklebolt and Riley, and Proudfoot and I were at Gregorovitch's, but Gregorovitch said I talked too much and asked to be assigned to a quieter pair of Aurors, so we switch pairs."

"Savage," Proudfoot said sternly, as he came from the kitchen. "You do talk too much. You're spilling all of our mission details."

"'M not," Savage said, throwing open the door to Jamie's old room. I held my breath as he went in and searched the room. "She already knows how the Ministry operates, anyways."

"Anyways," he remarked, as he came back out - I let out a silent sigh of relief – "What you've been up to, girl?"

"I'm a teacher at Hogwarts," I replied, making a valiant effort to keep the anxiety out of my voice as he headed to the living room. I couldn't keep one hand on my wand like I wanted because Proudfoot was also hanging about. If he noticed, he'd know immediately that I was planning to Confund Savage.

"Oh, yeah?" Savage replied, as he stepped into the living room. "What d'you teach?"

"Ancient Runes."

Savage scoffed. "You teach that sleepy old subject?" he asked, while standing right over the invisible trap door.

"It's… not a sleepy old subject," I said, trying very hard not to look down at his feet. Behind me, Proudfoot moved off towards the master bedroom.

"Tch," Savage replied, "you don't fool me." He jabbed his wand at me. "You were a hell of a restless Auror. I can't see you standing around drawing some lines and then calling it a day."

"That's why Ahmed sent you on missions with Riley, you know," he continued, as he traced the fireplace with his wand. I tried to look subtly over my shoulder towards the master bedroom, where Proudfoot had gone off to. I prayed that he wouldn't find any feathers in there.

"Speaking of, you oughta be ashamed of yourself, Kingsley," Savage was saying.

"Why's that?" I said, distractedly.

"You really ripped up Riley."

At the mention of Jasper, I paused and looked over at Savage.

"I can't believe you did that to him. He had the ring and everything for your proposal, and you shot him down. Kinder to just kill him in cold blood, I think," Savage murmured, as he ran his wand along the wall.

"I wasn't-" I began, but then I halted. Wait a minute. What did he say? "I think you're thinking of the wrong person, Savage. Jasper never proposed to me."

"Don't lie. I came into the office to see Riley sitting there, with some fancy ring in a velvet box in front of him. He'd just been told off by Moody for skivving off on his shift because he went all the way to Hogwarts to see you – and then you broke the poor bastard's heart."

"I'm telling you, he didn't…" I started, but I fell quiet once more as I suddenly recalled Jasper's and my last conversation. He had started to say something about commitment when I'd cut him off. He'd said: "If it's commitment you need, I can give it to you without any hesitation. In fact, I've come to ask you for your ha-"

Ha… Hand? I breathed out. He meant to propose.

Savage was still going on. "You know, my niece wants to get married these days. And I'm telling you, quite honestly, that if she'd brought me someone like Riley, I'd tell her never to let a catch like that go. He's a good fish, he is. A fatty tuna, at least, or a pretty swordfish, if you consider his wealth."

Finally turning around, Savage looked over at me. Seeing my face, his eyes widened. "Oh, fuck me, did you really not know about the proposal? You weren't joking?"

Behind us, Proudfoot had just entered after completing his search of the master bedroom. He sighed and shook his head disapprovingly. "See? This is why you don't gossip."

Proudfoot joined Savage in the middle of the living room. Both of them were standing right over the trap door.

"Well," Savage said, looking me up and down, "does it change your mind about him?"

Softly, I shook my head. "No."

"Think it's all clear," Proudfoot said. "No sign of Black, or of any hidden magic…"

Savage nodded. "Nothing on my end, either."

I tried to look unsurprised as they made their way back down the hallway.

"Oh, wait," Savage said suddenly. "Did you check this closet yet, Proud?"

Proudfoot looked back over his shoulder as Savage nodded towards the tiny hallway closet. He shook his head.

Savage pointed his wand at it and the closet door burst open. There were a few boxes in there, mostly stuff I'd cleaned out from the different bedrooms. But then-

"Oho, what's this? What's this?" Savage said gleefully. He kicked out a box with his foot.

My eyes widened.

"What you've got here, Kingsley?" Proudfoot inquired.

Savage, however, didn't feel like waiting. He pointed his wand at the box. It split in half and a bunch of familiar items fell out of it – a blanket, a scarf, a plaid shirt, and a leather jacket, among other things.

"Why've you got a box filled with Sirius Black's things?" Savage interrogated me. Both men pointed their wands at me.

"It's old," I said quickly, raising my hands. "It's from a long time ago. It was sent from the Ministry, I swear. Check the box."

Proudfoot kicked over one of the cardboard halves. Sure enough, scribbled on it was written: Delivered by Ministry of Magic Employee Arthur Weasley, followed by a date from years ago.

"And you just kept it?" Savage said skeptically.

"I forgot about it," I said honestly.

There was a long, strained pause. All traces of lightness were gone from Savage's eyes as he stared at me. His eyes narrowed and he tapped his lower lip.

"What happened to you, girl?" he asked, scrutinizing me.

"Hit myself in the face with a frying pan."

"Really?"

"Yep. Was trying to flip pancakes."

"Your reflexes have definitely lowered."

"It happens when you stop chasing Dark Wizards around the clock," I agreed.

I stood there with my hands up, trying to give the impression that they were welcome to continue searching or asking me questions for as long as they needed. I had to consciously stop myself from swallowing or blinking too much out of anxiety.

"All right," Proudfoot said finally. "We'll note this. But there's nothing here."

Savage instantly relaxed. He dropped his wand and grinned at me. "Pancakes?" he scoffed. "Don't go getting soft on me, girl. Riley's tragic little life makes me weep before bed as it is. I don't need you adding to it by telling me sob stories about burnt pancakes."

Fed up, Proudfoot snapped, "Shut up, and let's go. Scrimgeour's waiting on us." Proudfoot turned and walked quickly down the hallway.

Savage looked up at me and said, "Cheers, then."

"Wait," I said, as inspiration struck me all of a sudden. I dashed to my room and hurriedly put Jasper's old necklace in an envelope. I came back out and held it out to Savage. "Could you give this to Jasper – I mean, Riley? And could you tell him… tell him I'm so proud he managed to get Gregory reinstated again?"

Savage eyed me skeptically for a moment But then, he sighed and took it. "Fine, you know I'm a sucker for romance. Maybe I'll be the thing that gets you two together again, eh?"

I couldn't help but laugh a little at this. "Still Ol' Lady Savage, I see. As fantastic as you are, you should give up being an Auror and start a career as a matchmaker."

He grinned.

"Savage!" Proudfoot called. "C'mon! We can't be here all day."

"Keep your knickers on! Merlin," Savage grumbled. He stepped out and then turning back to me, said, "I've one last message for you. From Moody."

"What is it?" I asked, my brow furrowing as I listened hard.

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

I started, my hand flying to my chest in shock. Savage guffawed, and with that, he was off.


I waited for some time before I finally opened the trap door for Sirius, Remus, and Buckbeak to come up again.

"How do we know they're gone?" Remus called up.

"Well, I thought I saw them Apparate," I replied, but I was uncertain myself. "Should I go out and check?"

"No, that'd be a dead give-away," Sirius remarked.

"I agree. That's a bit too obvious," Remus agreed.

"I can Dissulurate myself," I offered.

Sirius paused and then he looked over at Remus. "Fancy yourself a neighborhood stroll, Moony?

Remus grumbled as he came up out of the trapdoor.

"Remus, I can-" I started.

"No, this makes the most sense," Remus acknowledged. "Walking down to the market should give me a fairly good scan of the neighborhood. I'll see if I'm tailed or not."

"Thank you," I said.

Remus smiled gently. "I'm glad to be of use, Raylynx." Pulling on his jacket, he left.

I went down into the trap door to help Sirius with Buckbeak. Sirius was standing before Buckbeak, who's head was nestled on top of his feathered legs and his dark hooves.

"Oh," I said softly. "He fell asleep?"

"Yes." Sirius reached out and stroked Buckbeak's head. "He's a good bird. He knew he had to be quiet."

"Though, I guess it wouldn't have made much difference, given how brilliantly your Runic magic worked," Sirius told me.

"What a relief," I said, shaking my head as the nervousness slowly bled out of my veins. "I'm so thankful the protections worked. I was praying the illusion would go unnoticed the entire time they were here. When they were standing right over the trapdoor, I was so worried they'd somehow figure it out."

"Yeah, Moony and I heard them when they were right above us," Sirius said. "We didn't dare breathe."

I glanced over at Sirius, suddenly wondering if he had heard what Savage had said about Jasper. I hadn't ever mentioned Jasper to Sirius. It wasn't that I felt I needed to hide it, but it just didn't seem as relevant to Sirius' and my relationship right now. I thought that what Sirius and I needed was to focus on each other and work out our own disagreements, just between us, before we considered anything else. But now I wondered if Sirius would take this as just another betrayal, another piece of proof that I hadn't cared about him at all while he was locked away in Azkaban…

"Sirius." I spoke quietly. "I don't know if you want to talk about it, or care, even, but I… about Jasper…"

Sirius turned around. My voice faltered as he stepped closer to me.

Then, he said, "I already knew."

My head snapped up as I looked at him, astonished. "You did?"

"Although I didn't know you turned him down…" Sirius amended. "Not that it's any of my business, but when did you stop seeing him?"

"Last term," I answered. "I'm not sure of the exact date... Some months ago, I guess."

"Months ago?" Sirius repeated.

"Yes..." I said, unsure why the timing matter.

"You didn't know then if I'd come back to you," he remarked quietly.

I blinked as Sirius' eyes searched mine.

"Wait," I said, as a realization hit me. "Then, you thought that he and I were still together? This whole time… you thought I was with someone else?"

"Is that so strange? Why wouldn't you move on and find someone?" Sirius asked me, his voice a careful monotone. "Your sister certainly thought you did."

"Ah." I was abruptly brought up short. A bit guiltily, I confessed, "Well, that would be because I never told her about how I'm not with him anymore."

"You didn't?"

"Sola's smart. She'll figure it out," I said. Then, I sighed and admitted in a resigned voice, "Well, no, the right thing to do is to tell her. But you know how scary she can be. I find it hard to tell her things… things that are going to make her upset with me."

Sirius quietly listened to me babble on. When I finally fell silent, he said, "But she's wrong? You're not with him anymore?"

"No, I'm not." I didn't dare look at him, but I thought I felt him moving. Is it just my imagination or is he slowly moving closer to me?

Then, I felt Sirius' thumb gently slide onto my lips.

"Who did this to you?" he asked me, lifting my face. The slight sting I felt as his thumb pressed carefully against my lower lip made me remember that my lip was busted.

"Um… Lucius Malfoy." I knew that some part of me was furious with Malfoy, but right now, I barely remembered what had happened only a few hours ago. Or, more accurately, I simply didn't care.

Sirius' eyes flashed in anger. "I'll kill him," he growled. "I'll kill him for touching you."

Before I could stop myself, I murmured, "Well, technically, he didn't. I mean, he didn't put his hand on me. He smacked me in the mouth with a metal snake - that is, his cane."

Sirius chuckled softly, a bit exasperated. But he said softly, "That still counts as touching you, and I'm still going to kill him."

"Padfoot? Raylynx?" Remus' voice sounded out from above. He had returned. Upon hearing Remus, Buckbeak let out a grunt and he shook himself awake as he stood up on all fours. Sirius walked over to take Buckbeak's leash. The three of us left the bunker. I closed the door and Sirius guided Buckbeak back to the master bedroom.

Remus was gingerly stepping over the mess of Sirius' stuff in the hallway. When Sirius came back out and saw the pile of his old stuff in the hallway, a half-pleased and half-curious expression came over his face. He walked over to it and pulled out his old favorite leather jacket.

"Merlin, I never thought I'd see this again," Sirius commented. He pulled out an old pair of Beaters' gloves. "Prongs' parents got me these," he remembered. Turning them over in his hands, he asked me, "Why'd you keep all this stuff anyways?"

"For when you got out," I explained, kneeling next to him. I picked up the blanket and ran my hands along its soft fleece. "So, I could return it to you when you came back."

"But you didn't know," Sirius countered. "You didn't know if I was ever going to return."

"That's true," I admitted. I spread my hands out against the soft fabric of the blanket on my lap. "I didn't know then. I didn't know anything for certain then..." Saying that out loud, I remembered how I'd felt when Arthur Weasley had dropped these items off years ago.

I suddenly felt like crying as I realized that everything I had ever wanted, ever hoped for after that disastrous War – namely, Sirius, Remus, and Harry by my side, and Jamie and Sola safe and happy – had all come true. Everything I prayed for had, inexplicably, come true.

That's right, I thought to myself. There's nothing more you can ask for, Ray. Count your lucky stars – and there are many of them – all bright and beautiful.


Remus had brought back crisps and whiskey, which was most unlike him.

"Remus?" I questioned, holding up the bottle of whiskey.

Remus explained himself. "Well, I didn't have a look at the kitchen like I normally do before I head to the market, so I didn't know what to buy. But I had to buy something. And the crisps were free, so…"

"So you're telling me that you bought just a bottle of whiskey and the cashier took pity on you and threw in crisps?" Sirius said, glancing over at Remus with an amused look.

"That's… not far from the truth, actually," Remus replied, mildly impressed.

"You didn't see anyone strange? No one tailed you?" I confirmed.

Remus nodded. "Coast was clear, from what I could tell."

Sirius sat down and tapped his wand on the whiskey bottle, opening it. He Summoned three glasses over. When I turned around, holding a plate to dump the crisps on, I found Sirius pouring ample amounts of whiskey into the glasses.

"Sirius," I said. "You haven't recovered enough to drink whiskey yet."

"Oh Merlin," Sirius replied. "I've had enough of this with your sister, if you don't mind."

"Yes, but you listen to her," I retorted, peeved.

Sirius brought the glass to his mouth. He wet his lips and then licked them. "Ah, a burn I sorely missed," he said, grinning. With the back of his other hand, he slid the other glass towards Remus. "C'mon. Cheers, Moony."

Remus took the glass. I gave him a reproachful, sidelong glance.

"It won't hurt anyone, Raylynx," Remus said assuredly, and then, turning away from me, he grinned as he clinked glasses with Sirius.

I grumbled but neither of them paid any attention to me as they drank together.

"It's good," Remus said, pleasantly surprised. "I didn't expect it, as I just grabbed whatever." He reached out and popped a chip in his mouth.

I looked at Remus, pleased but surprised by how nonchalant he was today. "Remus, did something good happen while you were out?"

"Hm?" Looking over at me, Remus noticed that my glass of whiskey was still untouched. "You should try some, Raylynx," he encouraged.

"Raylynx doesn't drink whiskey," Sirius said knowingly.

"Yes, she does," Remus countered. "She did when we were at the Hog's Head, anyways."

Sirius raised an eyebrow at me. "Did she, now?"

A slight pink tinge appeared on my face. It was true. I'd taken to drinking whiskey after Sirius had been taken away. I didn't particularly like it, even now, but something about the burn and the warm feeling it left behind in my chest reminded me of Sirius.

Sirius leaned forward on the table and teased, "But you have the nerve to tell me to lay off? Don't you think that's a bit hypocritical?"

"Shut up," I said irately and pushed his face away. I crossed my arms and looked down grumpily at the table. I expected Sirius and Remus to ignore me and have their fun together, but strangely, a few minutes later, it was silent at the table.

Then, I thought I felt someone's gaze on me. Slowly, I lifted my eyes to see Sirius looking over at me. Our eyes met, and for the first time in a long while, we held each other's gaze. Whatever minor irritation I'd just been feeling melted away entirely. But that wasn't all. As it hit me that he was really sitting before me, and that he wasn't just a phantom of my desire and my guilt, all of the years and years of pain and tortured forgetting I'd experienced was wiped away by a clear truth: He was my person. It was true that we had our disagreements and our secrets, and we always would. But it didn't matter. Because I was his person, and he was mine.

I didn't know what would translate to in real life. Would we be together the way we had been before, the way I dreamed of? I couldn't say. But regardless of how our lives played out, our connection would always exist. Though we were very different people, to the point that we couldn't always understand or even forgive one another, on another dimension, there was no separation, emotionally, from his pain and mine. What I felt, he felt, and what he felt, I felt. It was like having two different bodies to go through life with, but we were always breathing the same air, feeling the same pain and the same happiness. I shivered a little in my seat.

Remus looked over at me. A bit mystified by the suddenly intense look in my eyes, he followed my gaze - to Sirius, who was looking back at me. Remus coughed lightly, blushing. He got up suddenly, excusing himself from the table.


Remus' POV

I closed my bedroom door behind me. The extremely uncomfortable feeling of having intruded on an intimate moment slowly faded away. Although, to be honest, I had guessed that something like this might happen after what we had overheard today.

When we heard the Aurors enter the living room, Sirius and I had been deadly quiet, waiting with bated breath.

A stranger's voice rang out. "What d'you teach?"

We heard Raylynx reply, "Ancient Runes."

"You teach that sleepy old subject?"

"It's… not a sleepy old subject."

"Tch, you don't fool me. You were a hell of a restless Auror. I can't see you standing around drawing some lines and then calling it a day. That's why Ahmed sent you on missions with Riley, you know. Speaking of, you oughta be ashamed of yourself, Kingsley."

"Why's that?"

"You really ripped up Riley. I can't believe you did that to him. He had the ring and everything for your proposal, and you shot him down. Kinder to just kill him in cold blood, I think.

"I wasn't-" There was a stilted pause. Then, Raylynx said, "I think you're thinking of the wrong person, Savage. Jasper never proposed to me."

The Auror named Savage snorted and replied, "Don't lie. I came into the office to see him sitting there, with the ring in front of him. He'd just been told off by Moody for skivving off on his shift because he went all the way to Hogwarts to see you – and then you broke the poor bastard's heart."

"I'm telling you, he didn't…" Raylynx's voice faded off into silence. I imagined her expression of surprise - an expression that I knew well.

I glanced over at Sirius. His jaw was taut as he stared up at the trapdoor.

Savage's gruff voice sounded out again. "You know, my niece wants to get married these days. And I'm telling you, quite honestly, that if she'd brought me someone like Riley, I'd tell her never to let a catch like that go. He's a good fish, he is. A fatty tuna, at least, or a pretty swordfish, if you consider his wealth."

There was only silence.

A moment later, Savage blurted out, "Oh, fuck me, did you really not know about the proposal? You weren't joking?"

More footsteps approached the room above us. "See?" A new voice entered the fray, plainly chiding Savage. "This is why you don't gossip."

The floorboards just above our head creaked slightly as both Aurors stood directly above us. Sirius and I looked at each other. Both of us raised our wands, at the ready.

"Well," Savage pressed, "does it change your mind about him?" Clearly, the question was meant for Raylynx.

Without a moment's hesitation, Raylynx replied, "No." Her voice was soft, but even so, I could tell that she meant it.

Sirius' eyes softened and for a minute, he looked heart-broken – not for himself, but for her.

We heard them start to leave. It became much harder to hear them, although it sounded like they had happened upon a box of Sirius' old things. At this, Sirius shot me a confused look, wondering if he was hearing correctly. I just shook my head at him. I knew what box they were talking about. It was from years ago. I remembered that I had once offered to take it for Raylynx, to help her move on. She'd refused.

A few more minutes ticked by. Stuck in this lightless room and waiting in anticipation, time felt painfully slow. Finally, Raylynx had opened the trapdoor.

When Sirius suggested I go outside to check for Aurors, I shot him a knowing look and pretended to grumble. Raylynx, thinking I was being genuine, offered to go check herself, but I quickly assured her that I was more than happy to help.

I'd left the house and made my way down to the market, keeping one hand inside my jacket and on my wand at all times. I ran my eyes along the bushes and trees lining the sidewalks, but I didn't see anything. It was only when I got to the market that I realized I had to actually buy something. I just grabbed the first thing I saw and made my way to the counter, hoping to get out of there quickly.

It was only when the woman at the counter turned around and took the bottle from my hands that I realized what I had bought.

"Fancy seeing you again," she said lightly, as she scanned it. "Should I ask for your ID?"

Oh, bollocks, I thought. I didn't have any Muggle ID – now or ever.

"Er – only- only if you mean to flatter me," I said, at a feeble attempt to be casual and trying to imply that there was absolutely no need to ask for my ID.

"I'm just joking with you," she said. "You don't need to show me ID."

"Are you saying I look old?" I said, trying to joke with her to cover up my awkwardness and desperation to get out of there.

"No," she replied quickly, afraid she'd offended me with her joke.

"You don't even know how old I am," I pointed out, chuckling a little.

She relaxed, and smiled at me. "Sorry," she said ruefully. "Here, I'll throw in a bag of crisps for free as an apology."

"Oh, there's no need," I assured her hastily.

She laughed lightly. "It's just crisps, sir."

"Remus," I said. I paused, and added, "It's not 'sir'. It's Remus. Just Remus."

"Remus," she corrected herself. She held out her hand and said, "I'm Maggie. Well, Margaret- but Maggie."

I shook her hand. Then, I reached into my pocket and pulled out my wallet and took out enough cash to cover both the whiskey and the crisps, and a little more.

She shook her head and pushed it back at me. "I said you don't need to pay. I meant it."

"It's not payment," I clarified. "It's a tip."

"A tip. For what?"

"For putting up with a strange, old customer," I said, handing it to her.

This time, she accepted it. She smiled as she handed me my bag and said, "Well, I hope you enjoy it, sir."

"Remus."

"Right. Remus. Have a good one."

"You too."


I dozed off for a little while. When I got back up, I shuffled over to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Raylynx was gone, and Sirius was properly drunk now.

I poured him a glass of water. "Sirius," I ordered, "drink this. And stop drinking the whiskey."

I wrested the bottle out of his hands.

"Shit, I'm a total lightweight now," Sirius groaned.

"I expect so. You're half the size you were before," I reminded him. "Where's Ray?"

"She went to St. Mungo's. To see Alice."

"Oh."

Sirius took a long drink of water. Then, he settled back and he said, "Raylynx seems more confident now."

"Yes, I think so too," I agreed.

"I know she's not with him anymore, but maybe that other guy was really good for her. You know. Jared or whatever-"

"Jasper," I corrected.

Sirius shot me a look.

I sighed. "Pads, I think she's just happy to have you back."

"And besides, twelve years have passed. Of course she's grown into herself," I said.

"Twelve years… It didn't really pass for me, Moony," Sirius confessed. "She's left me behind – not intentionally, but just because she was out here in the real world, trying her best to live her life, and I was rotting away in the depths of Azkaban."

"She wants to deny it," Sirius acknowledged. "She keeps telling me that she sees me the same way. And the way she looks at me, sometimes I can almost believe her. But then, as soon as she disappears, I remember who I really am again. I realize that it makes no sense for her to be with me. Even if it's not Jasper, surely there must be someone... someone better suited for her now."

I fell silent, unsure of what to say. Again, I felt torn. On the one hand, I wanted Sirius to know once and for all that Raylynx, too, had struggled. On the other hand, I felt that I would be betraying Raylynx's trust if I told Sirius all of the details of her suffering - the times she'd cried, the times her hands shook from lack of sleep, the times she'd missed all sorts of career and relationship opportunities because she refused to give up on him... And did Sirius deserve all of this love? Honestly, I didn't think so. Nor did I think I ever would. Sirius would right. The likes of him and me shouldn't accept love beyond what we deserved. The difference was that for Sirius, he had a choice - His person was staring him right in the face. And I had no one.

I found myself uncapping the whiskey bottle.

Sirius noticed. "You took it away from me just to drink it yourself? Share it, you bastard."

"You drank most of it," I said, slapping his hand away. "The rest is mine. It's only fair."

"Damn you, Moony," Sirius grumbled.

I took a great big gulp and then, feeling like I was breathing straight fire, I muttered back, "Already damned, Pads."


Two hours later, both Sirius and I were wasted.

When Raylynx came in, she gently placed the children's book on top of the stack of books in the hallway. Alice had been particularly happy today, humming along as Raylynx read. Raylynx smiled to herself as she hung up her cloak. She walked into the kitchen, and then groaned when she saw Sirius lying over the table. I was at least sitting upright. Remember that I had assured Raylynx that whiskey wasn't going to hurt anyone, I quickly pretended to be sober, hoping she'd just leave us be. But Raylynx being Raylynx decided that Sirius should sleep in a bed as opposed to the kitchen table. I tried to wave her away.

"It's fine. Let him sleep like that. He deserves the headache," I murmured.

"But he looks uncomfortable," Raylynx said, sighing. "Remus, could you help me get him up?" She attempted to tug him up from the table and out of his seat by pulling his arm around her shoulder. I attempted to get up and push him up. I thought I was helping, but Raylynx looked over at me and said, "Remus, what do you think you're doing?"

"Hm?" I said. Am I not helping? Oh... Then maybe I should let go.

"You're just dragging him back do- Remus!" she cried out as I let go of Sirius and then tripped backwards. I did manage to get my rear end into the chair, but then the chair began to tip over. Raylynx, still trying to hold onto Sirius, reached out and grabbed the top of the chair. But my legs instinctively kicked up in surprise, and I was a lost cause.

Sprawled on the floor, still half-sitting in the chair, I stared up breathlessly at the ceiling with my arms sprawled out on either side of me. Thankfully, I hadn't fallen hard enough to hit my head on anything, but my head was ringing nonetheless and my back was protesting as the wooden backing of the chair dug into my lower back uncomfortably.

"Christ," Raylynx muttered. She made an executive decision to deal with us one at a time. She dragged Sirius over to his room. I heard him putting up a fight, not wanting to get onto a bed. "Will you just get in?" Raylynx said, frustrated.

"Why?" I heard Sirius say cheekily, as devilishly as I'd heard him since Azkaban. "Will you get in with me?"

I heard Raylynx growl. There seemed to be some sort-of wrestling match going on in there. Then, there was a dull thud as something - or rather, someone - collapsed on the floor of Jamie's room. Raylynx shouted, "Sirius Black, you complete chump!"

A moment later, she returned to the kitchen. It occurred to me that I was still on the floor. I hastily tried to roll over and pick myself up the ground, but getting up so suddenly made me woozy. Raylynx hurried over to my side and grabbed my arm. She paused and looked at me up and down. "You are drunk as a skunk, aren't you, Remus Lupin?"

"I'm not drunk," I said pleasantly, my mind buzzing. I looked over at Raylynx. "And how - how are you doing?" I knew I should leave it at that, but something in my brain made my mouth keep going: "... on this fine evening?"

Raylynx stared at me. Then, she said dryly, "Positively peachy."

"Come on then," she said, and tugged my arm, leading me to my room.

"You don't need to do this," I murmured. "I'm in complete control of all my - my cognitive faculties. I'm functioning at an acceptable capacity, I assure you. The operation is going exceptionally well."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. You're not drunk," she said sarcastically. Dragging me to my room, she firmly deposited me on my bed. "You were supposed to be the responsible one, Remus Lupin," she muttered as she pulled up a pillow behind my head.

"If I may say- " I began chirpily, despite the tiredness slowly clouding my mind.

"Shush, Remus," Raylynx said to me. "Sleep. You don't have to prove you're not drunk. You don't have to prove anything." Her voice was soft as she dragged the covers up over me.