The Triwizard Tournament

Claudia scratched her neck. The thick jumper Sirius found at the bottom of the trunk with his old clothes was itching her bare skin. But it was that or freezing in the draught coming through the many of the Sandcastle's cracks. The letter that was resting on her knees only made her feel the itching more deeply. She sighed and looked over to the other side of the bed-

Finally, Sirius was sleeping. A letter from Harry arrived to the flat the night before, giving blow by blow account of his flying in the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. He was safe, for now, and his overprotective godfather finally got a decent night's sleep.

And about time. The days running up to Harry's date with the dragons have been hell. The last couple of nights Claudia spent at the Sandcastle, her only company in bed was a wet, stinky dog sleeping at her feet.

Sadly, it was at a time she needed him… Not for heeling, as she managed to get through this time without any further accidents. But Umbridge's pride was clearly hurt after the last Board meeting. Agrippa's and Claudia's desks were full of increasingly unreasonable demands from the Undersecretary- impossible deadlines, intrusive audits, internal affairs investigations. Claudia tried not to take it personally, but it was harder with every annoying request that came the Department of Mysteries' way.

Pushing her discomfort aside, and grateful that her human boyfriend was back, she brushed Sirius' freshly washed hair and tried to return to her letter. But the words were jumping around on a page. She was never immune to Sirius' stress but had a nagging feeling that the tattoo was making it worse. She felt empty. A coffee might help. For a few seconds, she contemplated going downstairs, but it was so cold that even the prospect of coffee would not get her out of the warm bed. She blinked a few times and tried to focus again on her letter to Moody.

'You will know better than anyone that I have no illusion about what has become of the Auror Office. But I still cannot believe that they let Granville back in. I saw him talking to Umbridge the other day and-'

She paused. Now Harry was safe, and she did no longer have to worry about Sirius spiralling, it seemed that her own fears bubbled up to the surface. And she did not like it.

'- and I worry, and please keep this to yourself, that they are plotting against me. Granville out of pride, and Umbridge because…'

She sighed and remembered the detail of the last Board meeting.

'I may have enjoyed torturing her a little too much, enjoyed Fudge's favour a little too much. I know you will probably tell me it is a bad idea, but I need someone to talk this through with. Normally, I would bother Oscar, but he is still in Albania. And I just need to know I am not going crazy. Could we meet in Hogsmeade? I think I could use some of your honest advice.'

Proud of herself for managing to finish that, she put the letter on the bedside table and wrapped her arms around Sirius. He stirred.

"I have to go in ten minutes," Claudia whispered and kissed his cheek. If only she could stay here, bury herself under their duvet and have sex until all was forgotten about Umbridge… "Care to join me in the shower?"

Claudia barely finished that sentence before Sirius was out of the bed and nudging her towards the bathroom.

The memory of that warm shower and even warmer lips made the sailing trip almost bearable. She posted her letter to Moody and settled herself in the office. She stretched in her chair- leaving Sirius alone, coming to the office and trying to focus was becoming harder and harder every time.

Claudia only had to wait a couple of days for her old boss' response. It arrived just as she was leaving the office to go to the Sandcastle again. She ripped it open the moment she sat down in the boat.

'You have to take this seriously. Keep low profile. Don't come see me, too risky. Keep me up to date.'

Claudia scrunched the letter and shoved it into her jacket pocket. "He's being paranoid again," she growled. This is not what she wanted to hear. She missed Moody. Regardless of the circumstances, she wanted to see him.

As she sailed toward the Sandcastle, huddled under her coat for warmth, she stared angrily at the night's sky. Today, she wanted it to rain. It would have matched her mood. The bright stars were making her feel rather lonely. And the moon was mocking her.

Sirius held Claudia tightly when she arrived. That helped a little. "What's this?" he whispered and pulled the letter out of her pocket. He must have felt the bulk.

"Moody," she groaned.

Sirius' eyes narrowed as he skimmed the letter. "What is he talking about?"

"Nothing."

But Sirius was not going to let her get away with that explanation, the look on his face said it all. He squeezed both of Claudia's hands and brought them to his chest. "You're almost as bad as me at holding onto stuff. Please talk to me."

Claudia gave in. "I worry about Umbridge."

"Should you be more careful?"

"Probably…"

For a split second, Sirius laughed but then his face dropped. "Maybe we should-" he whispered and brushed her shoulder. "You should stay in London for a while. I don't want you to get caught."

"No," she whispered and leaned closer to him. "I haven't waited for you for this long just to give up." She moved closer still and her lips brushed against his mouth. The longer that beard was, the less it scratched. "It's going to be alright," she added after their lips parted. "We've been in deeper shit."

"I think we should seriously consider it," he replied but his eyes were betraying him. He was saying the words, but Claudia knew that he wanted her to stay. If he was to be in another prison, the least she needed to do was to make sure he was not alone.

"It'll be fine." She dismissed his fears and looked for a topic that would change the subject for good. "Do you want to invite Remus here for Christmas?"

"You'd be okay with that?"

She shrugged. "I need him to look after you if I get arrested."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Great, gallows humour." But he still held her tight. "That would be nice. If you're sure."

"I'm sure," Claudia replied through gritted teeth.

"Do you want something to eat?"

Claudia sunk into the embrace, truly letting go for the first time in a while. "I want to go to bed."

"Tired?"

"Not really," she mumbled, reached for his hand and led him up the stairs.

In the run up to Christmas, Umbridge's demands had lessened a little. She must have finally realised that the Department of Mysteries operated independently enough from the Ministry that she was never going to get a real answer to any of her queries. Moreover, the dust had finally settled on the first task of the Triwizard Tournament and Crouch – driven by suspicion that some of the champions knew about the dragons before they set off to face them – kept the second task under much tighter wraps. The Board knew nothing, and Crouch even brushed off Claudia's repeated offers of help. Without information, there was nothing either Claudia or Sirius could have done to help Harry to prepare.

As a result, Claudia was bored and struggling for motivation. Even her notes on soulmate research were still with internal affairs and no amount of pleading or threats would get them back.

But eventually, Christmas made an appearance and put her out of her misery. No more dull memos to tackle now she had the time. No more sailing daily on the rough, cold sea. No more waking up at six in the morning to make it to the office on time. At least not for a week or so…

On Christmas Day, after a couple of days of glorious rest, Claudia peeled her eyes open and glided her arm across to the other side of the bed. It was chilly and she was sure that if she slid her hand under Sirius' t-shirt, she would feel warm. Warmer still if she found the waistband of his pyjama bottoms. Alas, she found nothing as Sirius' side of the bed was disappointingly empty.

She twisted and turned for a while to try capture as much heat under the duvet as possible but eventually gave up. She pulled on a second pair of socks and the thickest jumper she could find and went downstairs to look for him.

Half expecting to find him downing his sorrows in whiskey somewhere, she tiptoed into the kitchen, her heart full of dread. But instead of cigarette smoke and the smell of stale booze, she caught a scent that smelled awfully lot like cooking and followed it into the kitchen.

Her jaw nearly dropped to the floor. There were chopped vegetables all over the table and Sirius was leaning over the stove without a whiskey bottle in sight.

"Come back to bed." She wrapped her arms around his waist.

"The Christmas lunch isn't going to make itself."

Claudia looked around his torso. He was shoving some beige paste into a large turkey. "You know it's just Remus coming, right? This would feed a family of fifteen."

"Quit moaning and get me some butter from the pantry."

He was clearly past the point she would be able to change his mind, so she shuffled towards the pantry. The floor was freezing her toes despite the two layers of woolly socks. "I would like to go back into bed and moan there," she mumbled. "But if you want a kitchen maid instead…" she said with a yawn.

"What are you muttering?"

"That I much rather be having sex right now!" she hissed over her shoulder and went to search for the butter.

When she returned to the stove and the butter dish clattered onto the kitchen surface, she frowned a little. "Did you even hear me?"

Sirius turned to her and smiled. "My hands are deep inside a turkey, and I will never finish this in time if I let you distract me." He leaned in and kissed her. "Thanks for the butter."

"It's just Christmas," she said and wrapped her arms around herself to keep warm. "Is all this cooking really necessary?"

Sirius slowly slid his hands out of the turkey and washed them up. Then, he walked over to Claudia and without any warning, lifted her to sit on the kitchen table. He sunk his cold hand into the hair on the side of her head and kissed her. "Yes, it is necessary. Our first kiss was at Christmas," he replied before brushing her lips with his one more time. "We got together during the Christmas break. And since I missed the last twelve-"

"Please don't say it…" Claudia's flirtatious mood had vanished. Twelve Christmases in Azkaban… She could not even- A rogue tear fell down Claudia's cheek and she wiped it on Sirius' sweater, now holding onto him for dear life. "What should I chop?" she asked hoarsely.

"That's the spirit," Sirius said and patted her leg. She could have sworn his voice shook a little too.

But Claudia's goodwill got exhausted after about ninety minutes of chopping, sauteing and stirring, and she was nearly relieved when Remus walked through the door and took over the kitchen maid duties.

Claudia found some coffee, collapsed into a chair and opened the Daily Prophet. That was closer to her idea of a Christmas morning. But she could not stop herself from peaking over the top of the papers and watching Sirius and Remus cook. It was odd seeing them together in a cheerful conversation, like it was nineteen-seventy-eight again.

"Shame Harry could not make it," Remus said as he brought the carrots towards the stove.

"Can't have him miss a ball. They were always fun-" Sirius replied and threw a smirk towards Claudia.

"For you two…" Remus said. "Anyway, Harry's too young to appreciate that side of it."

"I was his age when I made out with a girl for the first time." Sirius bent over to throw some vegetables into the oven. "I don't really remember who it was. But I was definitely his age. It's all a bit blurry."

"Azkaban still messing with your memory?" Remus asked.

"No. The Gryffindor girls sort of blurred into one even before I got arrested."

Remus shook his head. "Typical…" That, Claudia could agree with.

"Don't tell me you remember!" Sirius laughed in Remus' direction.

"Marjory Chalks," Remus said quickly.

Sirius turned to Claudia. "Break the tie, Claude… Do you remember?"

"I think most people remember," she said with a smirk, very aware she was agreeing with Remus, and put the papers down. She remembered because it was Sirius, of course. But that was beside the point. "Did they bring the May Ball back?" she changed the subject.

"They did not," Remus replied. "Don't remind me… I enjoyed the teaching aspect of my Hogwarts job. But do you know what it was like working with all our old teachers? McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout? All asking me questions every day about what we did and did not do at school? I spent most of my time in the staff room dodging McGonagall because she wanted me to confirm her suspicions about what we got up to at school."

"How much does she know?" Claudia asked.

"Enough to have expelled us repeatedly."

Sirius laughed. Hearing his deep, genuine laugh nearly brought Claudia to tears again. And soon, it was time to eat. The food was good, and so was the conversation. Seeing Sirius happy made Remus' presence almost bearable. She could never forgive him, of course, but maybe she did not need to for them to coexist in relative peace.

It was evening now, and the party had moved to the sitting room. The makeshift Christmas tree was basking in the light of the fire. Sirius, who's fingers were gently stroking the side of Claudia's torso, kept the conversation going with yet more anecdotes from their youth. Claudia tried laughing but was uncomfortably aware that to him, these stories must have felt fresh. Like they happened yesterday… Whereas to her, it felt like a lifetime ago. She shuffled a little closer to him and he wrapped his arms around her. She pushed her discomfort aside. It did not matter. All that mattered was that they were together again.

Suddenly, she felt his breath on her neck. "I love you," he whispered out of nowhere. It made Claudia shiver. Nothing else mattered in the world.

"I'm going to make myself scarce," Remus said and stood up. The bubble had burst. "The boat's downstairs, I presume?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Sirius replied and jumped to his feet too. "This place has nine bedrooms. You aren't going home tonight. Let me make you up a bed."

Claudia showered while Sirius made sure Remus was comfortable, and walked out of the bathroom straight into Sirius' arms. "Are you done being a home maker?" she whispered.

"Anything for my wife-" He tugged on the towel, which fell silently to Claudia's ankles.

She laughed as Sirius threw her into the bed. "This is the Christmas tradition I remember," she said with a laugh just before the world melted around her.

A screech of a seagull invaded Claudia's dreams. If only this was the first time the sky rats have done that to her at the Sandcastle… She opened her heavy eyes, the moon was shining brightly through the windows and there was no sign of sunrise. Her throat was scratching, so she summoned enough courage to throw on Sirius' pyjama bottoms and a jumper. Willing her tired and loose body on, she went down towards the kitchen to source some tea.

But she did not make it as far as the kitchen. Remus was sitting in the living room, sipping from a mug. He looked up when Claudia's footsteps echoed through the vast room. "Why didn't you tell me what you saw in your father's mind?" he asked tentatively. "That it was Peter who betrayed us?"

"How do you know about that?"

"Sirius told me." He picked up the teapot in front of him, poured out another mug and offered it to Claudia.

She sat down opposite Remus and took the mug in her hands. "Would you have believed me? Or would you have reported me for illegal Legilimency?"

A meek smile crossed Remus' face. It looked almost painful for him to twist his features in that way. "I would've said you were clutching on straws," he finally said "I thought that accepting the official version of events, and trying to move on was the healthy thing to do. And I wanted that for you-" He could not continue and held his face in his hands.

"It probably would've been healthier for me to have done that." Claudia tried to put him out of his misery.

"I should've handled it differently-" he mumbled. "I messed up. If there is anything I can do…"

"You can help me look after Sirius. Make sure we don't lose him again. Make sure that-"

Claudia wanted to say that they needed to make sure he did not end up in Azkaban again, but her sentence got interrupted by another set of footsteps entering the room. She turned and saw Sirius walking towards them with a grin. He sat down next to Claudia and kissed her on the temple. "What are you two chatting about?"

Claudia took a long sip of tea, and Remus turned towards the fire. His eyes were gleaming.

"What-" Sirius began with a hint of mocking in his voice, but Claudia nudged his arm. Before he protested, Remus spoke up.

"Whenever I look at you two," he whispered, still looking into the fire. "I expect James and Lily to walk through the door any minute… Because the last time I saw you two together like this, they were still alive. And you-" He could not even look at Sirius. "I'm so sorry."

"I'll be alright, Moony. I've got you two."

No one said a word in response. They did not need to. Claudia stood up and brought over a box of old photos she barely looked at for the last thirteen years. If there was a perfect day to go through them and reminisce till the morning, it was today. Between the three of them, they could keep James and Lily alive. At least for the night.

For the rest of the Christmas holiday, Remus stayed at the Sandcastle with them. They ate, worked on the house, played cards… But there were no more deep conversations between Remus and Claudia. It was true, she no longer wanted to murder him. But she was sure that he knew better than to mistake this convenient truce for permanent peace and was too scared to approach the subject again.

Eventually, it was time for early starts and choppy seas once more. Mercifully, the new year brought a new task for Claudia. As the Deputy Head of the Department of Mysteries, Agrippa asked her to review the Department's security arrangements. It happened every few years. Every protective spell was checked or improved. Every door equipped with new locks. In the past, the best thieves were brought from Azkaban for the day to try to break in. But they did not do that anymore. Not after three of them vanished in the Death Room back in the seventies.

Just as Claudia was finishing a memo to K.P. about requirements for a new apparition shield, she heard a meek knock on her door. "Come in," she replied absent-mindedly, trying to conclude a thought she had before her visitor made her forget it.

Slowly, the door opened and Édith stuck her head in. "Auberon said it was alright. But you look busy, I'll come back later-"

"It's fine," Claudia sighed and put her quill down. "What can I do for you?" she added, half her mind still thinking about that shield.

"I'm not sure I should be telling you this," Édith mumbled and shuffled on the spot.

But you are going to, Claudia thought to herself, so spill it. "If it's about Department of Mysteries business-"

Édith interrupted. "An auror came to see me and was asking a lot of questions about you."

"Which auror?"

"Granville something-"

"What kind of questions?" The shield was suddenly forgotten. Claudia sunk her fingernails into her palms. That usually helped her not to look too startled.

Édith took a few steps towards her old friend and lowered her voice. "Are you in trouble, Claudia?"

Claudia tried to laugh it off. "That depends on what kind of questions he was asking," she said with a forced chuckle.

"He wanted to know about the soul jewel, about how we looked for it." Édith paused for a second. "Whether you were there-"

"And what did you tell him?" The imagine of the soul jewel falling down from the bridge over the Hogwarts' lake was suddenly very fresh in her mind.

"I told him the truth!" Édith shrugged. "That you were at the Trelawney's place but that we did not find anything. Besides, you were just waiting for us in the library. Right?"

"Right…" Claudia's mind was racing. So, Granville knew she was alone in Trelawney's house. And he was not going to give her the benefit of the doubt. Still, unless he actually found the jewel, and a way to prove that Claudia took it, all he had was the weakest circumstantial evidence ever…

"Did you want me to lie for you?" Édith whispered. She must have sensed Claudia's discomfort.

"Don't worry about it. It's best just to tell the truth. It's not like I took it," she said, hoping it sounded sincere.

Once Édith left, and Claudia half-heartedly finished her paper on the apparition shield, it was time to head home. All the way back to the Sandcastle, Claudia debated whether to tell Sirius any of this. She was leaning towards taking him into her confidence. He would know something was wrong anyway, and he seemed stronger over Christmas. Maybe she was worried over nothing, maybe he would be able to handle it.

However, when she saw him in the sitting room, hunched over a letter, she knew instantly that she would need to keep the conversation with Édith to herself.

"What's wrong?" she whispered. The lines on his face were looking just a little bit deeper than usual in the light of the fireplace. Well, we had a good run, she thought as she sat down next to him.

"Why would Crouch go to Hogwarts in the middle of the night to wander around Snivellus' office?" Sirius replied slowly without looking at her.

"He wouldn't…" she said, puzzled by the oddity of the question.

"Well, he did."

"What are you talking about?"

"Harry's letter." He finally looked at her and passed her a piece of parchment. "He saw Barty Crouch in Snape's office on our old map. And before you say- no, the map never lies."

Claudia sighed and skimmed it. "Noone seen Crouch since before Christmas. His assistant claims he's too sick to come in and is working. But how sick can he really be, if he can sneak into Hogwarts?"

"If he's sick, maybe he's after a cure. Maybe he was looking for one in Snivellus' stores." The lines on Sirius' face had shifter a little. It looked like a little weight had lifted off him.

"That's possible," she said. "He might be looking for something banned. I would bet good money that Snape's got tons of illegal ingredients and potions in there. And considering Crouch's reputation, there is no chance anyone would willingly give him an illegal substance for the fear it was a trap."

"I've heard about what he did to his son. It was all over Azkaban."

"That was a bit of a surprise… But explained why our cases went awry when he was forced to do that internship with us."

"I forgot about that-"

"I wish I could. He blamed Frank for getting fired. And then-" She sighed. It has been thirteen years since Claudia found Alice in St Mungo's and had the horrible realisation that her best friend was gone. But thirteen years did not make it any easier to talk about. She made a mental note to go see Alice the next time she had a free hour.

"I wish there was something we could do to help them," Sirius mumbled.

That was pretty much the last thing he said for the next week. He might have bought the relatively simple explanation of Crouch's presence in Hogwarts, but the troubled lines on his face returned by the morning. The second task was approaching and there was nothing either of them could do to help Harry survive it.

And predictably, the closer the second task got, the worst Sirius' was.

On the last day in January, Claudia found him sitting on the windswept beach, drinking whiskey from a bottle and puffing on a cigarette. This might have looked like rock bottom to an untrained eye, but Claudia knew there was further to fall. At least he was still in human form.

She walked up to him and squeezed his shoulder. "Isn't a bit cold to be sitting here without a coat?" She looked closer. "Or shoes…" His toes were half buried in the wet sand and looked almost blue.

"I'm fine."

"Sure you are." She grabbed his arm and nudged him up to standing. Her own stomach was cramping from having her period. This was the last thing she needed. "Please come back inside."

Sirius got to his feet and let Claudia nudge him towards the house. Padfoot would never let her do that- there was still hope. For a while, they walked in silence. But eventually, he spoke. "I can't just sit here and do nothing."

"What are you planning?" she said, trying not too sound to weary.

"I need to get back to Hogwarts. I need to be there for Harry." He spoke fast, barely breathing. "I can hide in the Hogsmeade hills. Be close by if something goes wrong. Advice, you know. Support him."

Claudia took the pack of cigarette out of Sirius' hand and lit one.

"Aren't you going to try talk me out of it?" Sirius growled.

"Would it work?" She blew smoke into the night's sky.

"No."

"Then, no…" She stopped and placed her palm on his chest.

But Sirius pulled away and frowned.

"What's wrong?" she whispered.

"You just want to get rid of me," he growled. "Who would fucking blame you."

"I'm just trying to be supportive!" she said, trying to swallow her feelings. How could he even say that? "I know you won't be happy staying here forever. If this is what you need to do."

Sirius seemed stumped. "Sorry, I thought you'd be mad at me. You used to get mad at me for things that were far less stupid."

"You're lucky I'm old now." Claudia touched his chest again, and this time he let her. "Although you have to promise me not to do anything too stupid. And to believe me when I say I'll miss you."

"I love you," he whispered and pulled her closer. The stench of whiskey overwhelmed Claudia's senses.

"When are you leaving?" she asked quickly.

"Tomorrow."

Biting into her lip to keep her composure, Claudia rested her head against Sirius' chest and his arms closed around her shoulders. "You're going to be alright without me, right?" he asked tentatively.

She looked into his face. Tears were forming in his eyes. He needed her to tell him she would be alright. Because choosing between protecting his godson and protecting Claudia was not something Sirius could ever do. If she told him about her conversation with Édith. About Granville being back on her case, he would stay here at the Sandcastle and implode. "I'll be fine," she mumbled before, her own tears threatening to overwhelm her. "He needs you more than I do right now."

"It's just until this tournament is over, just a couple months. Then, I'll be back and you'll get sick of me."

Claudia wiped her eyes on her jacket's sleeve. "I will drop off your things in Hogsmeade. And you're taking the notebook, I'm not losing touch again."

Sirius nodded and kissed her again. "Let's get inside."

And by inside, Sirius meant their bedroom.

Claudia showered, enjoying the feeling of the warm water on her stomach. Eventually, she convinced herself to get out, got dressed in the warmest jumper, socks and trousers she could find and made her way back into the bedroom.

Sirius was lying on the bed half undressed.

"That's not going to happen," she said and climbed into the bed. "I'm dying of period."

"Poor you." Sirius threw his shirt back on, sat at the foot of the bed and began to rub her feet. All the pain and anxiety flushed out of Claudia's body. "Are you really okay with this, Claude?" he asked nervously.

"Yeah-" she mumbled, wondering on the inside what choice she had, and drifted off to sleep.

When Claudia stirred in the morning, Sirius' lips were brushing her cheek. "I'm going to set off."

"Let me come with you," she whispered sleepily.

"No chance. It's pissing down and the sea is rough. Get some more rest."

Claudia did not protest this time. But she wrapped herself in a blanket and made her way downstairs to kiss him goodbye on the doorstep. Then, she watched him sail into the distance. She was going to see him again. She had to. What was the point otherwise? And it was with that thought that the speck got too small for her eyes to follow.

"Back to the Ministry we go…" she mumbled and walked back to the house to get dressed.

Crouch might have gotten through the preparations for the second task without the help from the Department of Mysteries. But if the initial plans were anything to go by, the third task was going to be a different matter altogether. Claudia was so busy in the days after Sirius had left, that it occasionally made her forget about his absence.

Transportation of the Sphynx (without the knowledge of the Egyptian Ministry) would have been tricky enough without Griffin bringing her plan after plan to run through in mind-numbing detail. They were all fine, she thought. But Griffin wanted perfection. And bored her to death with it.

The Department of Mysteries were also busy coming up with other obstacles for the maze. Even Claudia got in on the action; using her old Mind Room tricks to come up with golden mist which turned things upside-down. One of the vials containing the magical substance in her pocket – she figured that it would make a rather useful addition to the Sandcastle's defences – she walked back from the Mind Room to her office to pick up her coat.

The Ministry was deserted. Claudia's footsteps echoed through the dark corridors of the Department of Mysteries. It was a good thing that she was not afraid of the dark.

She opened her door and froze. A tall, dark figure was hovering by her filing cabinet. "Who are you?" she hissed, her wand pointing right at their head. "Who sent you?"

The person turned and stepped into the light. They wore a khaki boilersuit. "I'm just the cleaner, Miss. Dusting."

Claudia lowered her wand but did not put it away. "Come back later."

He nodded and slowly walked out past her. There was nothing but a small bag in his hand. Was that suspicious? It might have been, if Claudia knew what kind of dusting spells a Ministry cleaner might use.

She sat down at her desk and put the vial away. She would need to take it to the Sandcastle some other day. Just in case the cleaner thought she was the one being suspicious, carrying vials around the Ministry at night, and reported her to security. Last thing she needed was for them to search her.

But eventually, work and thoughts of Sirius' safety made her forget about the cleaner and she smuggled the vial anyway. And the Sandcastle was safer for it.

According to the regular updates Sirius channelled through their two-way notebook, he had arrived to Hogsmeade on the day of the second task. Too late to be of any real use, but early enough to make himself feel better about the whole thing. That should have been the motto of the whole trip.

On the evening of twenty-fourth of February, she was relieved to read the memo nonetheless. Harry survived the second task, and what was more, was doing rather well for himself in the tournament. There was still one task to go. But that was not troubling her right now.

What was, however, troubling her was the signature on the bottom of the Ministry memo – "Mr Percy Weasley on behalf of the Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation". Whatever Crouch stole from Snape's reserves did nothing to alleviate the condition he was suffering from. For a second, Claudia felt for him - he was ambitious, dedicated to the Ministry (much like she was). Not being able to do his job must have been killing him. But then she remembered who was responsible for Sirius' stay in Azkaban and all compassion left her. Whatever the disease, she hoped Crouch was suffering as much as Sirius did under the spell of the Dementors.

She picked up her notebook and a quill.

'According to the Ministry memo, Harry is fine. More than fine actually, kicking arse.'

Sirius' response was nearly immediate.

'Thank you.'

'How are you?'

'Found a good place to hide, stole some food… Forgot how tedious it is to live on the run. I miss our bed.'

Claudia chuckled.

'And here I was, thinking you might miss me.'

There was a pause. Claudia's insecurities flared up. He better be missing her!

'Claude, I'm so thankful you aren't giving me grief about this. You'd have every right to.'

'I know Harry's important to you,' she replied. 'And you've got to do this. There is no point pretending otherwise.'

'Are you holding up though?'

She thought back to nearly cursing the head off that cleaner.

'I'm fine.'

She sighed after writing that. "Not jumpy at all…" she whispered to herself.

'I'm going to write to Harry. Ask him to meet me by Hogsmeade on a weekend the kids are coming down here.'

Was it a good idea? Probably not. Was there any point trying to stop him? Also no…

'I am sure he will be delighted. Just be careful, and let me know how it goes.'

Since that night, Sirius told Claudia he was meeting Harry on the sixth of March.

On the day itself, Claudia felt nervous. Since it was the weekend, and she had nothing better to do, she thought that she would burn some of her nervous energy and go check that everything was alright at the Sandcastle. With Remus' help, they made a lot of improvements over Christmas and Claudia did not want the seagulls to move back in.

She started in the kitchen and put away some dishes and searched the pantry for something to eat. Without Sirius, there was little point in cooking. Once her stomach was filled with crackers and jam, she moved onto the sitting room.

After she put away the dirty clothes and glasses and moved onto books, she felt a wave of resentment fill her chest. She hated tidying and hated laundry even more. But then her eyes landed on a picture on the coffee table. Twenty-year-old Sirius was grinning and waving back at her. Far from making her feel better, the resentment only grew-

Claudia dropped the books she had been collecting on the nearest surface, grabbed her jacket and run out of the house. She needed to get to the office before she realised just how angry she was at Sirius for leaving her again. Berating herself through the journey for feeling like this, she was relieved to make it to the Ministry before her resentment boiled over.

As she was walking through the Ministry atrium, she realised that in the hurry to leave the Sandcastle, she forgot her notebook. Today of all days! She needed it in case something went wrong with the meeting. Grudgingly, she turned to make her way back. She barely took two steps when-

The air got knocked out of her lungs. A powerful force jerked her back, and she toppled to the ground.

She tried to move, but someone or something was preventing her. She shut her eyes to put all her strength into it but to no avail. She was trapped and unable to reach her wand. Claudia gave up and opened her eyes to see Granville towering over her-

"You're under arrest," he said, barely resisting a smile. He was holding both of her wands in his grubby, hairy hand.

Claudia bit her lip and fought the restraints until she managed to sit up. They could not have captured Sirius this quickly. His meeting with Harry was not till the afternoon. "On what grounds?" She forced herself to say without emotion. She felt helpless sitting on the floor of the atrium, wandless and unable to move.

"Sealed arrest warrant," Granville replied.

Great, Claudia thought. They only ever used that if the charges were juicy. Before she had a chance to say anything, two Hit Wizards grabbed her and pulled her up to standing.

"Let's take her to her office." Granville growled. "Follow me."

The Ministry was deserted. Good, that saved Claudia from public humiliation. But the walk through the atrium was longer than ever and Claudia's brain had plenty of time to spiral - has Sirius been arrested? She could hardly ask them. That would reveal a weakness. But then again, if he was and she did not ask, might it look suspicious? Should she try asking what they have on her? Should she stay quiet? Or would that just reveal that there were plenty of things that could have been arresting her for.

They got to the lifts. "Nothing to say for yourself?" Granville smirked.

"I have nothing to gain by talking to the likes of you," she replied sharply. "I'll save my breath for when the grownups turn up." She turned away. In the absence of knowing what she should say, dignified angry silence would have to do.

Claudia stayed silent throughout the lift ride and the walk through the Department of Mysteries, as the Hit Wizards nudged her closer and closer towards her office. What did they know? Did her father gained consciousness and told them who put him in St Mungo's? Did Remus blab? Did any of her other Legilimency activities come to light? The people she illegally obliviated remembered? Or was this just about the soul jewel…

"Search everything-" Granville barked when they entered. Only now Claudia realised how many Hit Wizards there were. At least a dozen.

Among all the panicking about Sirius' fate and the potential charges, Claudia was thanking fate that she left her notebook in Gurnsey. If they found it on her, both her and Sirius would have been done for. She was beginning to breathe a little easier, when Granville walked towards one of her filing cabinets, reached in and took out an embroidered bag. "Wonder what this is," Granville said in a sing-song voice. A pink, round stone fell into his hand. "I will bet good money we have found our missing soul jewel."

Claudia's stomach turned. Granville was standing at the exact same spot as that cleaner. That was not a coincidence. She strained her eyes. The jewel was darker and bigger than the one she used to contact Sirius. "This is planted, and you know it," she hissed.

"Let's see what the Wizengamot think," Granville smirked and turned to the biggest, most crude-looking Hit Wizard. "Escort Miss Avery to Azkaban to await trial."

"I thought we didn't do that anymore… Since Dumbledore would not let that Hagrid arrest go."

"Miss Umbridge authorised it," Granville said impatiently. "Prisoner's too dangerous to be kept in the holding cells, let alone on house arrest."

These words wiped Claudia's brain. Sirius, her father, soul jewel… All was momentarily forgotten. Not Azkaban!

"Understood, Sir." The Hit Wizard that was holding onto Claudia's arm yanked her towards the door and led her out of the Department of Mysteries and towards the room that housed the secure portkey that would take her to Azkaban. She knew all too well what was awaiting her. All she could think about was the smell of the ocean, the slimy walls and the screams. And the cold, the bone-chilling, Dementor-induced cold…

They were through security. They searched Claudia, took her watch, her jewellery. Her lips quivered when they slipped off her engagement ring and threw it into a brown bag with a series of ruins printed upon it.

'ᛏᛞ836'

Her Azkaban number.

Just like Sirius had… By this point, Claudia was sure they did not have him. Someone would have thrown it in her face by now. Or he would have been kissed by a Dementor. She would have felt something. But her arm was warm. She felt it briefly as her hand was placed on the portkey.

And then it hit her. Sirius' own arm was going to freeze from the inside the moment that portkey landed in Azkaban. She knew what he was about to feel. The cold, the pain, the dreams… All the ever-present reminders that your soulmate was having their soul sucked out by Dementors.

It nearly killed her, several times over, when he was locked up.

All of this was about to hit Sirius like a ton of bricks. And he was not strong enough to handle it.

The dignified silence was over.

Claudia burst into tears.