March 7, 1979

Calandra had ordered every book Flourish and Blott's had on wolves. She poured over them and reread every footnote but couldn't find anything worthwhile in explaining the reasoning behind her Patronus. She sighed and rubbed her eyes.

"What's got you so blue?" Sirius asked, setting a cup of tea in front of her.

Calandra pushed the book back and rubbed her face.

"I'm trying to figure out the wolf thing." She said, pulling the teacup toward her. "None of the books are helping."

Sirius pulled a chair close to her and pulled the book towards him. He flipped through a couple pages and pulled his bottom lip between his teeth.

"Why do you care so much?" he asked.

"Your Patronus is supposed to be the animal you share the strongest affiliation with. Yours is a dog for crying out loud. I just want to know why it's a wolf."

"You don't think of yourself as a wolf?" he asked with a laugh.

"I don't know. Everything always means something else in the wizarding world. I don't know what the wolf means. What if it means I'm a horrible predator?"

"Moony's is a wolf, too." Sirius pointed out. "Do you think he's a predator."

Calandra rolled her eyes.

"They're obviously different." she said. "I made him show me. His looks different."

"Well his is the brown wolf." Sirius said easily. "Yours is the grey wolf."

He reached up and pushed her hair back off her face.

"Have you ever heard the stories of Morgana Le Fey or Medeina?" he asked.

"I've read Morgana's chocolate frog card, and we had to give Binn twelve inches of parchment on her." Calandra replied.

Sirius shook his head.

"Have you ever heard the legends?"

"I don't think so, why?" she asked.

"Well, I think you'd like them." He said, settling down into his seat, plucking a bunch of grapes off the plate in front of Calandra.

"Medeina was considered a goddess by muggles, but she was a witch. She was the most powerful magical being the north land had ever encountered. She was desperately sought after but lived her life fiercely independent and never married; choosing to, instead, focus on protecting the forests that she called home. She could transform into a she-wolf at will and led a pack of grey wolves throughout the forests, protecting magical creatures from muggles. It's because of her protection that we have half the creatures we do today."

"Sound familiar?" he mused, popping a grape in his mouth.

Calandra rolled her eyes.

"Just because I don't view marriage like the rest of the world, doesn't mean I'm a she-wolf."

"I meant the fierce independence and protective nature." He said with a smile.

"Of course you did." Calandra said. "What about Morgana?"

"Ahh, yes." He crooned. "This was one of my favorite stories as a child."

"Morgana was a powerful witch. Lots of people claim she was a dark witch; it even says so on her card. But if she was, she didn't start out that way. The story starts out a long time ago, in one of the most magical places on Earth; Avalon."

"Nine sisters tended the land, Morgana being the ruler of them all. She was enchanting, the most beautiful of the sisters, and an extremely gifted witch. She was a shapeshifter, a healer, and a mind weaver. Some people say she was one of the first Animagus and Legillimens. Story goes that she and Merlin were taught by Salazar Slytherin himself. In any case, she was truly a force to be reckoned with."

"One day, Avalon was attacked by a vicious group. The story doesn't tell if they were magical or muggle, but they tried to destroy the whole realm. Morgana was livid. She transformed into a wolf and went on a rampage through the invaders, killing them all. When she turned back into a human, she went through Avalon herself, tending to all the wounded. The story says that some were so close to the brink of death that she summoned all her magic and breathed life back into them, that's how gifted of a healer she was."

"Morgana vowed to never let her people be harmed like that again. She and her sisters acted as sentries from that moment forward. They lay in wait at the edges of the island and defended Avalon from those that would harm it."

"How?" Calandra breathed.

Sirius smiled.

"Morgana read the minds of the sailors who approached. If their intentions were pure, they passed unharmed. If not, she and her sisters would call to them, offering their hearts desires, singing beautiful songs to them. Morgana wove silver threads through their thoughts to show them the way. Then, when they got close enough, Morgana transformed into a wolf and destroyed them. She protected Avalon."

"They were…." She trailed off, her hand at her mouth.

"Sirens." Sirius nodded, munching on another grape. "Some of the firsts, the Morgans. Or so the stories go."

He ran a hand through her hair and cupped her cheek.

"I'd wager that's one of the reasons they called her a dark witch. But she wasn't, not really. Neither are you. Your Patronus doesn't make you a monster. It shows you your true heart, the lengths you'd go to in order to protect the people you love."

"Further than that," he went on. "You're the grey wolf."

His thumb traced a soft pattern at the corner of her lip.

"Grey wolves used to be companions to ancient witches and wizards. They were the protectors of magic. Their direct descendants are dogs."

"You're not a monster at all." He said with a smirk. "You're pretty much a puppy."

She laughed and smacked his hand away.

"Says the man who literally turns into a shaggy overgrown Labrador."

Sirius winked, then tossed a grape up in the air and caught it in his mouth.

...

March 30, 1979

Sirius darted into the bedroom and threw a cloak to Calandra. She jumped as the fabric hit her. He jerked a drawer open in their bureau and grabbed two boxes.

"We have to go, they're sicker than they've been letting on." He said shortly.

Calandra threw on the cloak and shoved her feet into her house slippers. She grabbed the satchel that always sat beside their bed and scooped up the keys to Sirius's motorcycle from the nightstand. He grabbed her hand and went straight to the fireplace. She flung in a handful of floo powder, and followed him in.

Calandra watched his face as they stepped out of the fireplace into the parlor of the Potter's. He was tense, his jaw set in a firm line. A vein jumped in his forehead and his eyes were steely. She followed him down the hall and saw Lily outside a bedroom. One look at her and Calandra knew it wasn't good.

Sirius didn't say a word. He gripped Calandra's hand tightly and strode into the room. Fleamont and Euphemia were propped up in the large bed by the window. A low fire danced in the fireplace and the nightstand held a number of bottles and vials of different colored potions. James sat on a stool by his father's side.

Sirius dropped Calandra's hand and the boxes he held and went straight to the bed. He knelt down on the floor by the bedside. Calandra watched him softly take Euphemia's hand in his and stroke it. The older witch smiled and turned her head to him.

"Aren't you a sight for sore eyes." Euphemia said, reaching up to caress Sirius's hair.

Calandra watched Sirius lean into Euphemia's hand. Neither of them said anything more. The room remained silent until Euphemia's breathing evened and she settled to sleep. Sirius slipped her hand back under the blanket and went to stand beside James. Fleamont held a shaking hand out and Sirius took it in his, his other hand resting on James's shoulder. James gripped his father's arm.

"So very proud of you." Fleamont said closing his eyes. "Both of you."

Calandra backed her way to the wall, feeling for the door. This was a moment for them, as a family. Children with their parents. Her hand found the door handle as James stood from the stool. She saw him drop his head to Sirius's chest as his shoulders shook. Sirius wrapped his arms around him as Calandra slipped out of the room.

She stood in the hall, her back to the door. Lily had sunk down to the floor and was resting her head against the wall. She opened her eyes and offered a watery smile to Calandra.

"I cast as many protection spells and charms as I could before you went in." she said. "I don't know if they'll work."

"Thanks." Calandra said. "How long has James been here?"

"He got here this morning. Brought in two healers before I even knew where he was. He's been a mess. He tried contacting Sirius, I promise."

Calandra nodded.

"Why didn't they let anyone know how bad it was?" she asked.

"I don't think they knew. At first it was just a bit of a cold. They took potions but then three days later, well, you saw the shape they're in."

Calandra didn't respond. She didn't have anything to say. Dragon Pox was almost always fatal to the elderly. The Potters were no spring chickens, she knew where this would end.

"I'm going to make some dinner." She said, suddenly. "Call for me the minute they come out, ok?"

Lily nodded.

Calandra walked down the hall toward the kitchen, lost in thought. She lit the fire in the oven and set to chopping potatoes by hand. The sound of the knife thumping against the wooden cutting board grounded her. She set peas and carrots in pots on the range and slid a roast in the oven. The preparations seemed to take no time and she was left wishing there was something else to occupy her racing mind and twitching hands.

She turned to Euphemia's recipe box and opened the lid. She flipped through a few of the cards. Long loopy handwriting filled the small spaces, little notes written at the top corners.

Mother's recipe. Fleamont's specialty. Easy enough for James. Sirius's favorite.

Calandra stopped at that one. Roast Chicken. She put the card back and kept flipping through the stack until she got to the desserts. Euphemia had a recipe for everything, and they were all delicious. Calandra thought about picking one out at random when a note at the top of one of them stopped her.

For my boys.

Calandra felt tears behind her eyes as she set the card on the counter and closed the box. She acciod the ingredients from the list and went back to work. She'd just removed the roast from the oven and slid the pan with the treacle tart in when she heard footsteps approaching. She turned and quickly walked toward the hallway.

Sirius met her at the doorway to the kitchen. He looked around the room and ran a hand through his hair. Calandra took his hand and sat him at the table. He wrapped his arm around her waist and leant his head toward her. She just stood there, stroking her fingers softly through his hair, letting him just exist in his emotions.

...

March 30, 1979

Fleamont died in his sleep late that evening, his hand in his wife's. Calandra knew as soon as James walked out of the room that something had happened. She was just walking by with an armful of blankets when he closed the door behind him. He looked around the hall, his eyes not focusing on anything. Calandra set her laundry down and put an arm around his waist, running her hand up and down his arm. She gently led him down the hall to the room Lily was in and handed him off to his wife. She softly closed the door and went back to the other bedroom.

She knocked quietly and peeked in the room. Sirius was sitting on the stool beside Fleamont. He got up and waved his wand over the bed. It magically widened. He reached over and removed Euphemia's hand from her husbands. Another wave of his wand and the mattress split down the middle to form two separate beds. She stepped back through the door and widened the doorway so the bed would fit through. Sirius levitated it out into the hall and into the next room. He walked back out and let out a breath.

"I'll make sure everything is taken care of if you like." Calandra said softly.

Sirius entwined his fingers with hers and gave her hand a squeeze.

"There's a stasis charm in there. We'll wait for James." He said and brushed a kiss to her temple.

Calandra changed into pajamas and walked through the halls and different rooms tidying everything, putting items where they belonged. She stayed up through the night washing bed linens and making sure there was hot food on trays in the bedroom, not that any of it was ever touched.

...

March 31, 1979

Euphemia slept through the night and the better part of the next day. James and Sirius would help her sip tea when she would wake up, then sit with her as she'd slip back to sleep. Lily wrote to the local wizarding mortuary and contacted Gringott's to inform them of Fleamont's passing. Calandra made lunch and helped Lily with supper that evening, but all the two men would eat were slices of the treacle tart with their tea.

Sirius went with James into his father's study as Calandra cleared the dishes out of the bedroom. She smoothed Euphemia's hair back from her forehead. A grandfather clock chimed somewhere in the hallway. Lily slipped in the room and together the two witches made sure Euphemia was clean and comfortable.

They left the room when James came back and Calandra headed to the kitchen to wash the dishes. Lily joined her there, and the two worked in silence handwashing all the plates and bowls and teacups. Lily broke the silence, telling Calandra of the first time she ever met the Potters.

"I was terrified." She said. "I didn't know what they'd think of their only son marrying a muggle born."

Calandra shook her head as she wiped the plate she held.

"They don't care about that. The family's married muggles before." She said.

"Yeah, I know that now. What was it like for you? The first time you met them?"

Calandra thought back to the day she'd stormed through the floo looking for Sirius.

"I loved them the first second I ever met them. They're wonderful." She finally said.

She'd never be able to put into words how thankful she was for those two people. Never be able to express her gratitude for what they'd given Sirius.

James walked into the kitchen then, and Calandra excused herself, giving them some space. She went back down the hallway, slowly, stopping to look at pictures hung on the wall along the way. A portrait of Euphemia and Fleamont when they were younger, probably just married. Black and white photographs of the couple smiling at each other.

Further down the hall hung pictures of a smiling baby, tufts of dark hair sticking up all over its head. James as a toddler, standing on wobbling legs as two hands held him steady. Pictures of his childhood lined the walls. Calandra passed by one of them and did a double take. She stepped back and studied the photos. Scattered throughout the images of James were pictures of a different dark-haired child. This one had wary eyes and a timid smile.

How had Euphemia gotten them?

Calandra watched them intently. A skinny little boy stood in front of a silk tapestry and looked off to the side before turning to face the camera and smile. In another he shook his hair back and mounted a broom. She traced her fingers over them. They were few and far between at first, but the farther down the hallway she went, the more photos he appeared in. As she went, his smile grew easier and his eyes shone less troubled.

She stopped at a picture of the two of them; Sirius and James. Both were on brooms, whoever took the photograph had probably been on one, too. James threw his head back in laughter and Sirius gave him a good-natured shove. James laughed and slung his arm around Sirius. Sirius smiled and clapped an arm around James's back before they looked up to the camera, bright smiles painted on their faces.

The next picture showed Fleamont with an arm flung around both James and Sirius's shoulders. Euphemia stood on the other side of Sirius, her arms around his middle. All four of them looked as happy as could be. A family.

Calandra looked away from the pictures and kept moving down the hallway. She went into the bedroom and pulled a chair over to where Sirius sat beside Euphemia. Silently, she reached for his hand and rubbed her thumb over his knuckles when his fingers gripped hers. They sat there in silence, comforted by each other's presence, not needing to speak.

Sirius reached for a teacup but set it back down on the end table when he realized there was nothing in it. Calandra got up and dropped a kiss to the top of his head, moving to reheat the tea in the pot and pour him a cup. The bed shifted and both of them looked to the witch laying there. Euphemia had opened her eyes and was looking at Sirius. She wrang her hands together before reaching out a thin hand to Sirius. He knelt beside her, taking it.

Euphemia cleared her throat and spoke softly.

"I love you, Sirius."

Calandra watched Sirius swallow repeatedly.

"You're the best son a mother could ever ask for." Euphemia went on.

Tears shone in Sirius's eyes. His mouth set itself into a small watery smile.

"I love you, too, Mum." He said softly.

"I know you're older than James, but you came into our lives after he did, so I've always thought of you as the baby. You'll always be my baby boy."

Sirius nodded, tears spiling down his cheeks. He reached down and brought up one of the boxes he had grabbed from the bureau at home. He opened the lid and tilted it up so Euphemia could see the contents. She smiled.

"I kept all yours, too."

She reached over with her other hand and slipped it into where their hands joined. Sirius's eyes searched the old witch's.

"I love you, you handsome thing. My Sirius." Euphemia said.

The door opened and James slipped in. Euphemia looked to him and he rushed to her side, kneeling down beside Sirius, taking one of his mother's hands.

"There, now." Euphemia said contently. "I've got both my boys with me."

Calandra quickly wiped her eyes and slipped out.

...

April 2, 1979

The funeral was a small affair; the vicar, James, Sirius, Calandra, Lily, and a couple other relatives. The healers at St. Mungo's warned them that they were all at risk of dragon pox, so the interment to the family cemetery was brief.

They all sequestered back at the Potter's house. Cleaning the rooms and quarantining themselves. Sirius and James went through the rooms, boxing up mementos and reliving happy times they spent together, there. Sometimes Calandra and Lily joined in, but more often than not they just let the two of them do it alone; with each other.

After a month with no signs or symptoms, the healers at St. Mungo's gave them a clean bill of health and released them to go back home. Sirius turned to James as they were getting ready to step into the fireplace and grasped his shoulder.

"Floo's always open Prongs." He said. "If you ever need anything."

James slung an arm around Sirius's middle and tousled his hair with his other hand.

"Mine, too Pads. Mine, too."