Together Again

"You have glasses," Sirius whispered.

"Well, I'm old…"

He shook his head. "You look exactly the same," he mumbled and loosened his grip on Claudia slightly, so that he could look at her face more easily. Rain, or possibly tears, were flowing down his face, it was impossible to tell.

But Claudia did not want him to let go and held onto his arms for dear life. Her fingers digging into his forearm, she looked up at his face. Sirius did not look exactly the same. He was skinnier than she thought possible, pale and his features sunk almost beyond recognition. "It's been so long-" she mumbled, unsure what else to say.

"How did you find me?"

Claudia lifted her hand to show him the soul jewel, but her palm was empty. "Fuck, where did I-" she dropped to her knees and started to search the ground. Her hands covered in mud, and vision obscured by the heavy rain, she eventually managed to locate both her wand and the jewel. "This–" she tried to brush the mud off the jewel- "some ancient magic. Helps find your soulmate."

Sirius was now kneeling in the mud next to her. "Soulmate? Didn't think you believed in that stuff-"

"I don't know what to believe," she shrugged. "The tattoos. They turned into something I don't really understand."

"Whatever it was, I'm glad it worked…"

"What are you doing here, Sirius? Where are you going? Why didn't you-" she choked on her words. Why did not he come home? Why did he made no attempt to get in touch with her?

Slowly, Sirius rose to his feet and his demeanour completely changed. The softness was gone. His eyes were filled with pure fury. "I need to kill Peter."

"What?" Claudia asked, and struggled to her feet in the sticky mud until Sirius reached for her hand and pulled her up. Her question, however, got drowned out by a truck honking right next to them.

"Claude-" Sirius looked around like a spooked animal. "I'd swear someone was following me earlier. This is not safe."

"What do you mean that you have to kill Peter?" She ignored him. "You killed Peter when you found out he was the spy!"

"I didn't. He faked his dead and transformed-" Sirius froze and frowned– "You said you thought I was innocent!"

"Innocent of being Death Eater," she replied, barely supressing an eyeroll. "Couldn't care less if you killed Peter. He didn't deserve to live after what he did-"

"Well, he does live, as a rat. And he's at Hogwarts."

"Oh- How do you know?"

Sirius shook his head. "Not here… I want to explain, I want to explain everything-" he looked around nervously again. "Just not here."

"My flat isn't safe. They're watching me."

Sirius put his hands on Claudia's shoulders and leaned towards her. "Claude, if meeting is too risky, we shouldn't."

She ignored him and looked at the board next to the motorway. 'Edinburgh, 40 miles,' it read. "Padfoot can cover forty miles in three days, right?"

"Sure."

"Alright. This Friday, at eight o'clock. Find somewhere quiet in Edinburgh. I don't need to know where, I'll just apparate there using the jewel."

"Claude-"

"I don't want to hear it. And don't even think about breaking your word, because I'll find you anyway."

"Alright," Sirius whispered somewhat taken aback.

"Sorry for the tough love," she whispered and stroked his face. "But I need to see you again soon." She grabbed the sleeve of her top and rubbed Sirius' cheek clean. "Sorry, got mud everywhere on you."

He placed his hand against hers and squeezed it. "I don't think a bit of mud is my biggest problem." Then, pulled Claudia's hand in front of his eyes. "You found the ring."

"I love the ring." She embraced him again. "And I love you," she added, mumbling into his chest.

"I really have to go," Sirius sighed after a while.

"Okay," she replied but made no move to let go.

"Claude?"

"I can't let go off you."

"I'll see you soon-" Sirius peeled her off him, wiped the rain and tears off Claudia's face, and planted the gentliest of kisses on her forehead. "You have no idea how much I want to just come home with you and never leave-"

"But finding Peter comes first…" she finished his sentence with a sigh. "I understand."

"I knew you would." He transformed into Padfoot and run off into the undergrowth without another look at her.

Claudia watched the place where he vanished for a long while, hoping he would emerge again. But he did, not and Claudia eventually summoned enough strength to apparate home.

She landed on the threshold to her flat in excruciating pain. The jewel clearly enabled apparition at greater distance that she would normally be able to travel. That was the only explanation why she was fine getting there, but splinched on the way back.

She hobbled inside the flat and fixed her leg quickly enough. But before she managed to take off her clothes drenched in rainwater and mud, she found a note from Moody, berating her for missing yet another lunch and telling her not to get mixed up in anything, because Sirius' bloody face was all over the Prophet and muggle news.

Determined to ignore her old boss' advice, she went to the shower. Only once she stood there, under the stream of hot water, she noticed just how much her body was shaking. And then, it all began to sink in-

Did she just hold Sirius in her arms? And why did she go home? Why did she not just stay with him, go after Peter with him? They could go together-

"Get hold of yourself," she muttered and rubbed the shampoo into her hair. Padfoot is the best disguise one could get, and dragging his girlfriend along would only break his cover. Besides, he was not weeks away from reaching Hogwarts on foot. Patience. That was what was needed right now.

But patience was not something that Claudia naturally possessed and her mood that evening gradually worsened. She kept remembering things she should have told him – about Harry, about Remus… About a dozen times she went to the attic, where she had hidden the jewel, determined to go find Sirius again to explain everything, but she changed her mind every time. If he was among muggles, or someone was truly after him, she would blow his cover and get them both killed.

Claudia had to wait, she knew that. But reasoning alone was not going to do it tonight, so she brew a fresh batch of sleeping draught and drank it to shut off her brain.

As she lay in bed, waiting for the draught to take hold, tears began to fall down her cheeks. She felt uneasy. Of course, she was happy to have seen him. But- She struggled for a moment to figure out the source of her uneasy but fell asleep before she could.

She woke up, overwhelmed with dread, hurried into the attic and clasped the soul jewel in her hand. Padfoot was there, clear as day, moving elegantly across the Scottish landscape, edging towards Hogwarts. Slowly, Claudia's heartbeat returned to normal. She understood why Sirius wanted his revenge, she truly did. But breaking into Hogwarts was dangerous. He was going to get caught. And the Dementors-

With every passing hour, Claudia could feel herself spiral more and more. Dropping things, ignoring her duties, staring into the jewel at every opportunity. She needed to find something to fill her time with, anything-

The prophecy! It would kill at least half a day if she paid a visit to Malika to see what she could tell her about it. Despite being an Unspeakable for over a decade and one of Malika's bosses for over six months, Claudia had never actually been in the Hall of Prophecies. She was in the office of the Divination Room before, of course, but never in the Hall itself.

"Wow," she whispered when she entered by Malika's side after extracting an invitation. The ceiling of the chamber was so high that Claudia struggled to see it. All she could see were row upon row of towering shelves filled with small, dusty, glass orbs.

"That's how we store the prophecies-" Malika explained. "Each prophecy made on the British Isles get automatically recorded here-" she waved around. "Don't ask how it works, there are about a dozen theories, each more complicated than the other–" Malika paused and then started to explain anyway. "The theory I subscribe to is that the original Keepers of the Hall of Prophecy got fed up trying to piece together all the prophecies from second-hand accounts,so they travelled this country high and wide to put a tracing spell in place to record any new prophecies. Making a prophecy releases a signature like any other magic, but the signature is different enough from an ordinary spell for the trace can pick it up. It works rather reliably…"

"And the prophecies just appear in these orbs?" Claudia whispered, still looking around. There were thousands of these misty orbs, glowing in the cold light emitted from the blue torches that lit the hall.

"They do… And it records the name of the seer who made it on this little label," Malika said and pointed at the nearest shelf. Each orb had indeed had a yellowed and dusty label affixed.

Claudia eye's darted towards Malika, her mind sharper than it had been in days. "Wait… the tracing spell can tell you whose magical signature any given prophecy is?"

"That's correct…"

That was not good news. It was not that much of a stretch to imagine a similar tracing spell configured to respond to a different type of magic; an animagus transformation perhaps. Claudia swallowed dry at the mere thought, sincerely hoping that Remus had enough decency to keep his mouth shut about Padfoot. "Can it tell you where the prophecy was made?" she asked as innocently as she could.

To Claudia's enormous relief, Malika shook her head. "No… And neither who the prophecy is about. That's where my team come in. We try to interpret the prophecies, figure out who they are about. Of course, we don't always succeed. Many of the prophecies are unassigned."

"I witnessed part of a prophecy the other day…" Claudia finally summoned courage to approach the real reason why she was here. "I was with Sybill Trelawney."

Malika's face momentarily twisted in a grimace full of distain, but she quickly recovered her usual composure. "Ah, that's our newest unassigned one."

"Can I have a look?"

"It's through here," Malika said and led Claudia towards the wall on the left where the shelves were carrying lot less dust. "The last one on that shelf."

Claudia made an instinctive move to pick up the prophecy, but Malika stuck out her arm into mid-air to stopped her. "They are magically protected," Malika said. "Only I and the subject of the prophecy can lift them-" she picked up the orb and within a second, Sybill's voice echoed through the chamber.

"The brightest star will blacken to make way for a new dawn. Only the one which carries its light inside them can ignite it once more. Two beings, one light. Shining only as long as they both live. When Death rolls its dice, eternal rest or earthly suffering will come. Shining only as long as they both live... Eternal rest or earthly suffering will come… When Death rolls its dice…"

Claudia only half-noticed Malika put the orb back on the shelf. Sybill's voice was still ringing in her ears. There was no doubt in Claudia's mind about who this prophecy was referring to. There was only one person she knew that share their name with the brightest star... And she knew that stars blackening usually meant only one thing-

She bit her lip. Sirius' death was the last thing she wanted to think about! She just got him back! "Have you tried interpreting it?" she forced herself to ask calmly.

"No." Malika shook her head. "We have years' worth of backlog. And we prioritise the ones that talk about war, or – you know – the Dark Lord."

"Makes sense," Claudia muttered. As their boss, she would not want the staff in the Divination Room to do any differently. And neither would she as one of the subjects of this prophecy. Because she was certain that the bit about the light was about their soul bond. 'The one who carries their light inside them.' That was her. It had to be.

"Where was it made?" Malika asked. "Sometimes that can give you a bit of a hint about the meaning of the prophecy."

Claudia clenched her fists. Any hope that she was misunderstanding the prophecy was quickly evaporating, since Sibyll made this prophecy when they were looking for the soul jewel. "Cassandra Trelawney's old house. Édith was looking for something there and took me and Sybill along."

Malika's face flickered with a range of unpleasant emotions again. "You know the Trelawneys?"

"Well, kind of- My mother was one of them."

"You and that Sybill woman are related?"

"I think I take more after my father's side of the family," Claudia smirked.

"She's a fraud of the highest order-" Malika continued without seemingly listening.

"Well, she did just make a prophecy-" Claudia could not quite believe the words coming out of her mouth. "I'm no divination expert, but would not that make her a genuine seer?" Why was she defending that woman? What was wrong with her?

"She got lucky," Malika hissed. "Anyway, if anything else occurs to you about the prophecy, let me know."

"Will do," Claudia replied, still somewhat rattled by her attempt to defend her cousin, and mindlessly walked back into her office. Once there, she wrote the prophecy down to make sure she would never forget it.

After another sleeping-draught induced sleep, Claudia went to see Édith. If the prophecy was to be believed, she needed to start taking this whole soulmate thing more seriously and there was no better place to start than the Love Room.

"Can't tell you a thing," Édith said the moment Claudia entered her office. "The aurors would have my head."

"That's not why I'm here," Claudia tried to reassure her. "Do you mind if I browse through some Love Room papers?"

"Can hardly stop you, since you're my boss…" the bitterness in Édith's voice was still very palpable.

"It's not official business," Claudia chose not to rise to the provocation. "I'm just trying to understand this soulmate thing a little better."

Édith jumped to her feet. "How has the tattoo been since he's been out?" she asked. Genuine magical mysteries always took precedence over personal matters for her, and she seemed genuinely excited to be able to help.

Claudia shrugged. "Warm. Don't really feel much at the moment."

"When did you notice the change? Was it instant or more gradual?"

Claudia swallowed. No way she was getting into this with Édith. "Don't know, I was asleep-" She quickly changed the subject. "I didn't mean to bother you, just point me the right way."

"I've got all our soulmate material right here," Édith pointed at a few boxes piled up in the corner of her office. "I'm heading out for the rest of the day, so feel free to stay to go through it."

"Thanks."

"If by any miracle you find the soul jewel in there," Édith sighed. "Do let me know… The aurors' patience seems to be running out."

"Sure," Claudia whispered and sat down on the floor next to the pile.

She opened the first box even before Édith had left and dived into the research. At first, it was all full of predictable nonsense about people carrying birthmarks with the initials of their soulmate and having the face of their intended speak to them in their dream. This stuff was exactly why the Love Room suffered from the reputation it did. All this sounded rather like a pipe dream that charlatans sold to teenage girls at village fetes.

But once Claudia opened the second box, it all started to sound rather more serious and plausible. A research paper from the nineteen twenties stipulated that while it is extremely rare for two souls to be born with a bond already in place (last case of this was recorded in eighteen-seventy-five), it was common for a bond to establish itself in couples that form a uniquely strong connection. But it took decades. Even the most dedicated couple might not notice any signs that their souls have in fact bonded until after they entered the second century of their lives. For many, the initial signs of the soul bond were dismissed as babbling of the elderly or simply as symptoms of the couple having been together for a long time. Who would not instantly recognise their partner's emotions after seventy years of co-habitation?

But the research paper proved beyond doubt that the soul bond in these couples was real. What it could not determine, however, was just how deep the connection could go, as the subjects kept dying (and Nicolas Flamel and his wife refused to participate in the research).

Claudia looked at her forearm – was it possible they somehow accelerated the formation of the bond their souls would have developed anyway by linking the tattoos? It all seemed to fit… But how far could it go? She was not even forty and could already feel his pain. Intuitive understanding of his emotions and actions could not be far behind… That will come in useful with someone of Sirius' ability to fuck things up…

Her face twisted in a little smirk, which had soon evaporated. This was no laughing matter. She was no divination specialist, but even she knew that in order to save Sirius like the prophecy predicted, the tattoos would need to become a lot more powerful.

Her mind swirling with the possibilities of how deep the soul bond with Sirius could grow, and what it could do for them, Claudia packed her things and decided to head home. But before she could get there and spend the evening pathetically staring into the soul jewel in her attic, she bumped into Fudge in the Ministry's atrium. Claudia saw from the corner of her eye that Umbridge, who was by the Minister's side, tried to steer him away, but Fudge broke free and approached Claudia.

"Claudia-" he began with a slight tilt of his head, as if to convey his sympathies. "I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry about all this. But Dolores and some of the others felt that it's for the best if you take a step back."

She looked around. Dozens of people were on their way home, many rather obviously trying to catch snippets of the conversation between the Minister of Magic and the infamous Claudia Avery. If she caused a scene here, it would be in the papers by tomorrow morning and she would be without a job, so she bit her lip and forced a smile. "You don't have to explain, Cornelius. I understand."

"It will blow over. And soon, I hope." He leaned towards her and dropped his voice to a whisper. "I have often found myself in need of your advice."

"You know where to find me." Claudia sunk her fingernails into her palms. Being agreeable was hard- This man was the Minister of Magic and yet, he acted as if her exclusion from the Board had nothing to do with him! One word from him and she could have been restored to her rightful position! One word!

"Actually, there is something I was meaning to ask you." Fudge was clearly buying Claudia's calm demeanour as genuine. "We're hosting the final of the Quidditch World Cup next summer and I need you on the Task Force to keep Barty and Ludo from murdering each other.

"Do we want to stop them from murdering each other?" she smirked.

"Claudia!" Fudge exclaimed but could not stop himself from laughing. "They are both valued members of the Board," he added in such tone that it left Claudia in no doubt that he was being sarcastic.

"Of course they are, Sir," she replied. Then, she remembered that torturing Crouch was what she wanted to do before Sirius had escaped, and this was the perfect opportunity. "And of course, I'll be on the Task Force."

"I knew I could count on you," Fudge replied and hurried back towards Umbridge who was impatiently tapping the atrium's floor with her pink shoe. Her sour face made Claudia's day.

But by the time Claudia actually managed to get home, she had mixed feelings about Crouch's proposition. If he asked her yesterday, she would have bitten his hand off. But now it was only going to provide a distraction from what she truly wanted to spend her time focusing on – research into prophecy and the soulmate link.

Before she downed another portion of the sleeping draught that evening, she had to do one more thing – write a letter to Sybill, asking to borrow anything that Cassandra had on soulmate research. Her cousin was bound write back with a dozen reasons why it was not possible, but it was worth a try in any case.

Friday felt like it lasted a week. Every time Claudia looked at her watch to see how much time had passed, she was shocked to discover it was mere minutes. But she made it, with a lot of groaning and fidgeting, and was finally getting ready to leave when Oscar's charming boss, Granville Lace, barged into her office-

"We knock here-" she hissed, as she collected a notebook from the floor that she dropped when Lace startled her.

The auror, however, did not care about formalities. "We've been informed about your presence on the World Cup Task Force," he barked. "It's highly irregular for someone under suspicion to be allowed-"

"The Minister asked me personally," Claudia interrupted him, as calmly as she could. "If you have a problem with it, why don't you go and bother him? He knows about my past."

"There is no such thing as "past" for you lot- I know women-"

Claudia's bucket of self-control was exhausted, and she could not help but laugh. "I doubt that very much…" Then, she straightened her back and looked Lace in the eyes. "What are you implying anyway? That I don't know my own mind? Because let me assure you-"

But Lace did not let her finish. "I want to search your house. And your office!" he barked and took half a step towards the nearest bookshelf.

"I'm not an idiot." Claudia jumped into his path. "Most of the stuff here is classified about five levels about your paygrade-" she said and unceremoniously shoved him towards the door. "And as for my house, you need a permission from Amelia Bones before you can come anywhere near it."

"I'll get it," he hissed and stumbled backwards out of Claudia's office. But before she managed to shut the door in his face- "I can feel in my bones that you're up to something. And I'll prove it," he groaned at her.

Claudia slammed the door shut and blew a raspberry at it. She knew Lace had nothing and was only trying to rattle her… But truth be told, it worked a little. The last thing she needed was some auror all up in her business. Because Oscar had a point. If they ever found out what she got up to, he would not be able to save her from Azkaban, no one would – multiple counts of theft of the Ministry's property, improper use of Legilimency, torture, probably attempted murder… And all that was even before the fact that she knew how to find the most wanted man in Britain. That she was about to go and see him…

She pushed the discomfort away and made her way home. This Granville moron was not going to ruin something she had been dying to do for the last twelve years, something that has been consuming her for the last three days.

Once home, she packed an old wand she had lying around, muggle and wizard money, healing potions, and sleeping draught… At eight o'clock exactly, she enchanted the records player and the lights to stay on for a few more hours, threw the invisibility cloak over her head and tiptoed out of the flat. Once out of the range of the apparition shield, she gripped the stolen soul jewel in one hand, her wand in the other and apparated.

Once she materialised, sheer relief engulfed her body. Sirius was standing right next to her, seemingly unharmed. He was dressed in clean muggle clothes and had his hair in a high bun.

"Hi," she whispered with a smile of a teenager who finally summoned the courage to speak to their crush, and threw off the hood of her cloak.

Sirius jumped a couple inches in the air. "You scared the shit out of me," he said and leaned against the wall to steady himself. They were in an alleyway, perfectly hidden from prying eyes.

"Sorry…"

"Nice cloak," Sirius mumbled once he recovered his breath, and then took a couple of awkward steps towards Claudia. "Hope I don't stink quite so much this time," he said and brushed the top of Claudia's arm. "Broke into someone's house to take shower and borrow some clothes."

"You mean stole?"

"What are they going to do? Arrest me?" he replied bitterly.

"Should we find somewhere we can talk?" she whispered. "There is so much I want to-" she trailed off. Say? Explain? Need to know? She just did not have the words.

"I tried to think of something- Do you think we could get away with a muggle pub?"

"No… Your face's been all over muggle news," she sighed. Claudia looked out of the alleyway at the tiniest of fragment of the Edinburgh's skyline and recognised a familiar façade. "I do think we could get away with a muggle hotel though." She shot a Sirius a brief smiled. "Maybe they'll even let us have the same room," she added with a chuckle.

But her remark seemingly fell on deaf ears as Sirius did not raise a smile. "But if the muggles could recognise me-"

"Don't worry." She took the rest of the cloak off. "I can disguise myself and you can wear this."

With the plan agreed and Claudia's appearance changed sufficiently for her not to get immediately recognised, she walked towards the hotel, with Sirius (hidden under the cloak) following her. It was only then she realised how fast her heart was beating. She tried to stay calm, but how could she? Twelve years have passed since she had a real conversation with him. Since she kissed him. How could anyone be calm in this situation?

But she managed to keep enough composure to get a room, find it and changes her appearance back to normal.

In the meantime, Sirius had pulled off the cloak.

And then, they just stood there. About two yards apart and in complete silence.

Claudia looked around. The room she remembered as glamorous was now rather dated. And smaller than she recalled. Her eyes travelled to Sirius, who was rubbing his palms.

"I don't know where to start…" he said so quietly she could barely hear.

"Me neither," she mumbled, noticing just how truly skinny he looked. "Do you want order something to eat?"

"Sure."

"What do you fancy?" Claudia could barely speak.

"You pick something," he sighed. "I forgot what food tastes like."

"Fish and chips. And apple crumble?"

"Sure- Can I borrow your wand for a bit?"

Claudia reached into her sleeve and passed it to him. Sirius grabbed it and without a word disappeared into the bathroom.

She watched the door for a bit, wondering why all this felt so weird and foreign, and then called the reception to order the food.

When Sirius emerged in under a minute, he was smiling a little. "Had to fix my teeth…"

Claudia smiled back at him, then reached out for his hand and dragged him to sit down on the bed, determined to break the awkwardness. They had to talk. Properly. That was the only way. She took a deep breath and looked into his eyes. "What happened, Sirius? After you left-" She could say no more. The mere memory of how he left her alone and without an explanation still stung.

"I convinced James and Lily to make Peter their secret keeper instead of me. I wanted to draw everyone away by going into hiding." He looked away. "The biggest mistake of my life."

"Second biggest," she replied bitterly. "You biggest mistake was trusting my father-"

Sirius dropped his face into his hands. "I'm sorry-"

Claudia reached for his shoulder and squeezed it. This was not the time to yell at him…"I cannot believe Peter is alive," she sighed, thinking of a couple of things she would quite like to do to that fucker. "And I don't think my father, or any other Death Eaters, knows that either."

Sirius looked up at her, seemingly relived that Claudia turned the conversation around. "Well, he's at Hogwarts now, disguised himself as this boy's rat. I suspect to finish the job that Voldemort couldn't."

"How do you know all this?"

"I saw them in the Prophet… Do you remember Fabian's sister? It's her kid who had him on his shoulder on a picture in the papers. They won some prize or something…"

"Ah, the Weasley kid. He's best friends with Harry."

"I need to get there, find him and kill him."

Claudia said nothing. How could she? How could she possibly argue with him about this, after what she herself did?

"Aren't you going to try convince me to let the Auror Office handle it?" Sirius said with a smirk. "What kind of auror are you?"

"I'm not an auror anymore." She looked away.

"What?" Sirius gasped. "Why not?"

"Because they fired me," Claudia said with a shrug. "When you vanished, I lied to them to protect you and they didn't look too kindly on that. I was lucky not to end up in Azkaban too." She looked up at Sirius who had an expression of absolute horror on his face. "It's alright-" she added and reached for his hand. "I've got a much better job now."

"What job?"

"Have you heard of the Department of Mysteries?"

"Yes… Some weird research, right?"

"Well, you're looking at their second in command. And the Department of Mysteries' representative on both the Board of the Ministry of Magic and the Wizengamot-" She paused. "I'm temporarily in the doghouse though. Because, you know-" she gestured towards him. "My problematic associations."

"Sorry."

"Ah, don't worry." Claudia waved it off. "Fudge likes me. It'll blow over soon."

They spent the next few minutes talking about Claudia's job, and then the food arrived.

"How did you escape?" Claudia asked as he nibbled on the fish, sitting crossed legged against the headboard of the bed. She was rather hungry herself but let Sirius eat first.

"Transformed into a dog and swam to shore."

"Neat." She tentatively reached for a fry and munched on it.

"Nearly killed me. But-" he paused, then wiped his oily hand on a napkin and intertwined his fingers with Claudia's. His eyes were boring into her. "You cannot imagine how happy it makes me that you believed in me. I don't care what anyone else thinks as long as you thought I was innocent. Well, at least innocent of being a Death Eater and killing those poor muggles."

Claudia grimaced. "About those muggles…"

"You thought I did that too?"

"Not on purpose!" she exclaimed.

Sirius laughed for the first time. There was something unreal and beautiful about it. It transformed his gaunt face into the face she remembered, the face she saw every night when she closed her eyes. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. "Yet, you're still here," he chuckled. "What's wrong with you?"

"Whatever happens, remember I love you, right?" she whispered. "It goes both ways."

Sirius' smile vanished and he closed his eyes. "I don't deserve this-"

"Don't be silly…" She whispered and brushed the side of his face.

With a long, deep inhale, he slid his hand up Claudia's arm and over her shoulder. They leaned closer to each other. She could feel his warm breath on her neck, and his fingers dancing on her bare skin.

"Is there anything I need to know before I make a complete fool of myself and try to kiss you?" he whispered, his eyes still firmly shut.

Claudia clasped her hands around his hastily trimmed beard. "No. You don't-," she just about managed to utter before Sirius' lips landed on her own.

Claudia did not hesitate for a second before kissing him back. It was both familiar and very foreign at the same time. There was something about how he held her that made her feel like those past twelve years did not exist. They were still twenty-one, and the last time they kissed was just yesterday. But he was not wearing his usual cologne, his lips were rough, and the beard… She had to smile to herself.

"The beard has to go," she uttered.

Sirius laughed and pressed his body into hers until they both fell over into bed.

"Ever since I came out of the North Sea," he whispered as their lips parted. "I've been wanting to kiss you."

"Just kiss me?" she smirked.

Sirius froze. "Are you sure? I really feel I owe you an explanation, and a proper apology, a wagon of flowers-"

"All I want is for us to be together again. Everything else can wait," she said and placed her hands on his chest. She wanted to say that all she wanted since she lost him was to hold him in her arms, that she was never able to move on, that she needed him more than he could have possible imagined. But she knew that she would cry if she as much as attempted to say any of these words… And she did not want to cry. "Besides, we were never really that good at being friends, were we?"

"Terrible." Sirius said with a chuckle and the sensation of his gentle fingers stroking her skin travelled from her shoulders down to her lower back. "I've forgotten how this works."

"I haven't-" She slid his t-shirt over his head, and then froze. Every bone on his body was visible through his translucent skin. And every bit of his torso that was not covered by tattoos was instead covered in scars, bruises, and fresh cuts.

"Oh, Sirius…" she said, running his fingers down his chest bone.

"Later," he uttered and pinned Claudia down into the bedding. "I don't want think about any of it right now."

"Just tell me if it hurst-"

Sirius did not respond to her plea. Instead, he hastily and rather skilfully (he clearly has not forgotten it all) removed the remainder of their clothes.

They were going to be together again. Never did she think they would. And now he was back. He was in bits but he was back. The pain he must have been in all these years. The hell he must have been though- What she felt through the tattoo did not even begin to cover it. She wrapped her arms around this neck, as if to reassure herself this was actually real and then-

She burst into tears.

Sirius froze. "What is it?"

"I'm sorry," Claudia sobbed. "It's just too much-"

He rolled away. "If you don't want to- I will totally understand."

"I do want to," she just managed to get out before her throat closed with more sobs. "I just need a minute. I'm not used to this many emotions…"

Sirius brough Claudia head to his chest and hugged her. "I'm here now. It's going to be alright. We're going to be alright."

Fresh wave of tears took over Claudia's senses. "You're not helping," she tried to chuckle through them.

"Would cake help?" he asked.

She nodded vigorously and, with a laugh, Sirius rolled away and returned with a plate of the apple crumble.

"Let me also see if there is whiskey in the minibar," Sirius said, after they finished the crumble largely in silence.

"I don't drink anymore," Claudia said and wiped her tears. "I like keeping a clear head." Her state after Sirius was arrested was not something she was prepared to discuss just yet.

"You're right," he mumbled and fell back into bed. "It'd probably kill me anyway."

"I have other bad habits," she replied and leaned over the bed to take out a pack of cigarettes from her jacket pocket. And soon enough, they settled into a familiar position; half sat-up against the headboard with Claudia's head resting against Sirius' shoulder.

"I'm in awe, Claude-" he spoke after they passed the cigarette between them a few times.

"What are you on about?"

"Your strength," he said and extinguished the cigarette in the ashtray on the bedside table. "Your ability to just keep proving everyone wrong." He said before grabbing Claudia with both of his arms. "How perfect you are."

"I'm far from perfect."

"You're perfect to me."

"You've always had a talent for looking past my flaws…"

"You're the one to talk!"

Claudia laughed. The tears were truly at bay for the time being. She threw one of her legs over him to sit across his lap. Leaning ever so slightly forward, she kissed him.

Sirius' hands travelled down to her hips, rubbing them gently. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he whispered, clearly using his remaining self-control.

"I promise not to start sobbing again," she muttered and took matters into her own hands.

She could nearly feel her heart melt when their bodies were finally joined again. For a few seconds, it felt unreal. The two of them. It was the purest, simplest moment of love and bliss. She leaned in to kiss him again, but felt his face twist in a grimace.

"I need a break," he uttered with a groan.

"A break?" she asked. They were barely at it for ten seconds.

"Too late."

"Ah-"

Sirius sighed and dropped his head back against the headboard. "We used to be better at this, right?"

"Very much so–" she lowered her head on his chest. It didn't matter. She was not here for sex. She was here for him, for love, for a bond so strong no one could ever explain or even understand.

"Bloody Azkaban," Sirius smirked and extracted himself from Claudia's embrace to sit on the edge of the bed. "Taking away my well-earned reputation." He tried to joke, but there was no hiding his true feelings about this, not from Claudia. His ego was in pain.

"All I care about is that I found you," she whispered and planted a gentle kiss on the back of his shoulder. "That's all that matters."

Sirius squeezed her hand. "I'm still hungry-" he leaned over the bedside table and put the plate of unfinished fish and chips between them. Once the food was finished, they found themselves leaning against the headboard again.

"How exactly did you find me?" Sirius muttered, as he mindlessly stroked Claudia's hair. "You mentioned something about soulmates? I don't get it-"

"Do you remember when your arm got cold that one time I went to Azkaban for work?"

"You mean when I had an embarrassing freak out in front of half the Auror Office?" he replied. "Yeah, I remember. One of my proudest moments."

"Well, that was the beginning of it. The bond between the tattoos has grown stronger since."

Sirius stopped stroking her hair and pushed himself up to sit straight. "All these years, you could feel the Dementors?"

"Yeah..." She pushed herself up to sit too.

Sirius sighed. "That's horrific-"

"Nothing compared to how you must have felt…" she whispered. "But it's not all bad. I've been doing a bit of research into it. We should feel good stuff too."

Sirius put his fingers on Claudia's tattoo and closed his eyes. "I can actually feel something, you know. I can't describe it. But it's something."

"Let me try," she whispered and place her own fingers on his fox tattoo. He was right. "Like a surge of energy, warmth… Love." She raised her eyes.

Sirius did not wait for her to say any more and kissed her. They fell into the bed, instinctively knowing it was time to try again. What followed was not by any means the best sex Claudia has ever had. It would struggle to break into the top hundred. But she did not cry, and Sirius lasted more than fifteen seconds.

Besides, it did not matter anyway. What mattered was that she could feel his breath on her neck, his fingers dancing on her skin, and his spirit and happiness quite literally pouring into her. All that mattered was that she could hold him in her arms, that he was here. That he was about crumble on top of her completely exhausted and oblivious in a few seconds, and that she could spend the rest of the night holding him.

"Fucking hell-" Sirius groaned and fell over into the bed mere seconds after completion. "My back- I did something to my back." He was clutching his side and stuck in an uncomfortably looking arch.

"I brought some healing potions," she said, trying very hard not to laugh at him. She was sure his ego could not take it. "There is bound to be something there for muscle pain."

And she was right. After quickly downing her own potion to prevent any unintended consequences of what they just did, she found the right vial to fix Sirius' back, opened it and poured it down his throat.

Sirius stretched a few times. "It's better-" he said as Claudia curled up next to him. "Fucking Azkaban," he added in a growl. "Made me into a cripple."

"That's not Azkaban, sweetheart-" she chuckled. "That's the age…"

Sirius burst out laughing. It was infectious and Claudia began to laugh too until tears came into her eyes. There was something so simple and beautiful about seeing his laughing face again, partially hidden by his dark hair and pillows. Gradually, Claudia's laughter died down and she run her fingers through Sirius' beard and planted a gentle kiss on his lips.

"Round three would kill me-" he uttered.. "Just so you know."

Claudia chuckled one more time, then fell back into her own pillow. "Did you want to talk some more?"

He shook his head. "Let's just have this tonight…"

"Alright." Claudia was happy to oblige. She held a lot back from him, and was sure he did to. The dam was bound to burst at some point, and there was sure to be yelling… But not tonight. She cuddled up to him, closed her eyes and not long after that, fell asleep.

When Claudia next woke up, the room was only illuminated by the light of the moon. The city has quietened down too. She felt a chill, so – still in a half-asleep state – she searched the bed for Sirius' body to warm up. She shot up to sit when she realised that he was not there. He could not have-

Twelve years of built up resentment had flooded her chest. If he had left again without saying goodbye, she was going to murder him. Quite literally, murder him.

As she pushed herself up to her knees to go find him, she noticed him. He was not far. He was lying on the floor, completely motionless. In the cold light of the moon, he looked so much like a corpse, Claudia momentarily thought he had died.

"Did I wake you?" he said hoarsely, making her breathe a sigh of relief.

Claudia shook her head, then dragged the duvet off the bed and slid down to the floor to join him.

"Can't sleep in the bed," Sirius explained without prompting. "Kept tossing and turning and didn't want to wake you. And I miss the ocean…"

"Is that all it is?" she asked. "No ocean?"

"I should never have left," he said and wiped his eyes. "But I really thought it was the only way to keep you safe. I should've told you everything. I truly am sorry-" He turned to face her.

His eyes were quivering. He was not wrong, of course. He should have fucking told her. But she knew that he needed compassion right now, not a telling-off.

"Please don't blame yourself. You've suffered enough…"

"Fitting punishment," he whispered, and tears started to fall down his cheeks.

"What was it like? Azkaban?"

Sirius looked towards the window and then began to speak, without making eye-contact. "Well, the Dementors had plenty of material to feed on." He choked on his words.

"Your mother?"

"I wish…"

Claudia joined Sirius in the struggle to contain tears. "I'm sorry if some of it was my doing."

He finally looked at her. "They had most fun with my memory of finding James' dead body… knowing it was my fault, knowing that he would still be here if I hadn't been an idiot."

"Don't say that."

"But it's true! He wanted me to be the secret keeper. I made him change his mind. I failed him, I failed Lily… Just like I've failed Regulus. And now Harry."

"You're protecting Harry. That's why you're here, in Scotland."

"And I failed you-"

She bit her lip. "You didn't fail me. We were both fucked over by some exceptionally evil and powerful people..."

"There is no excusing what I did-"

"It's not an excuse, Sirius, it's the truth. We were nothing but kids! Pawns in their fucking game. I didn't see it then but it's clear to me now." She placed her palm over his heart. "Now, get back in the bed. I brought some sleeping draught. It's time for you to get some sleep."