I pushed back the covers and got unsteadily to my feet. The room spun and then settled. Sighing, I made my way towards the door and tugged it open. The house was quiet. Really quiet.

As quickly as I dared, I walked down the stairs, trying not to fall. "Moody?"

There was no reply.

Shrugging more out of habit than anything else, I turned towards the kitchen. I needed something to drink. I reached out and hauled open the refrigerator. It was nearly empty. I sighed. ‘Men.’

Pulling out a carton of orange juice, I took a seat at the remarkably clear table and took a deep drink. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, silently berating myself for using Sirius’ disgusting habit. I raised the carton to my lips once more and swallowed, finishing it.

Tossing it in the bin, I yawned and stretched. What I needed was a good shower, clean clothes and a wasted day lying in the back garden, not worrying about anything.

Well, I got as far as the good shower and clean clothes part. And then Fletcher (surprise, surprise) ruined my fun.

I hopped down the stairs, fully prepared to set foot outside when-

"Oh, has the Spanish Princess decided to grace us with her endearing presence?" The sarcasm seeped through and was followed by a soft chuckle.

I raised an eyebrow and turned around. Fletcher was standing in the immaculate living room, looking completely out of place in his tattered brown robes. "I’m not Spanish."

He waved his hand dismissively. "A minor technicality, I’m sure. An-y-way," he said, splitting up the syllables in a decidedly annoying manner, "I heard you got cursed something awful yesterday."

"Who’d you hear that from?"

"Moody."

"Moody thinks he’s funny. I got hexed, yes, but I was hardly on my death bed."

"Yes, a crying shame, I’m sure."

I shot him a look and he smirked.

"In any case, I thought you might want to know something."

I flopped onto the couch and glared at him expectantly. "What now?"

"There’s a new assignment. Just a one-time thing. There’s a book of sorts. Got stolen a while back and we need it."

I sighed in a resigned manner. Funny how things were always getting stolen by the wrong side, wasn’t it? "Who’s got it?"

"Death Eaters," he responded, nodding. "Quite possibly the Inner Circle, but we can’t be sure. Doubt it, though."

"Do you know the location?"

"Yes. It’s incredibly well-guarded."

"Who’s going?"

He hesitated. "Black, obviously. Moody wants you there. Seems to think you’ll be an asset." The way he was speaking, it was obvious that he didn’t exactly agree.

I rolled my eyes.

"McFadden’s going to fix the codes and he’s best for breaking the surrounding charms. He won’t be going in though. Straight apparation, do what he’s got to do and then he’ll leave. Other than that…no one."

"When?"

"Midnight-"

I snorted immediately. "Oh, let’s go right when they expect us. That’s intelligent." It was common knowledge that Death Eater camps were most often awake at night and the early hours of the morning.

He ignored me. "McFadden’ll penetrate the shields and the second he does, you and Black will get the book."

"You’re joking, right?"

He narrowed his dark eyes. "No."

I made a face but made the wise decision to hold my tongue.

"Black’s got the maps and whatnot. He’s planning the route and-"

"Oh, great."

"-AND," he said threateningly, "you’re to apparate to this location tonight. 11:30 sharp. If you’re late, I’ll send you to Tibet in a cardboard box. Have a nice day!" He spun around and with the grace of a dancer, hopped into the fire.

So much for wasting a day, not worrying about anything. Sighing heavily, I hauled some books outside and dropped down on my stomach.

The pavement was slightly hard but the grass outside looked like it hadn’t been cut in forty years and I wasn’t in the mood to search for a grass-cutting spell.

Glaring angrily at the thick symbols book, which I hadn’t even gotten half-way through yet, I started flipping the pages, searching for a picture or even a description of the X with the two parallel lines running along the top and bottom of it. I honestly think there’s a conspiracy against me; the symbol was nowhere to be found.

A shadow fell over my work and I looked up, bewildered. Moody smirked down at me. "Constant vigilance, Lass, isn’t that what I’ve been telling you?" I ignored him and he cleared his throat importantly. "Just thought I’d stop by…see how you’re doing and all that."

I sighed, swung my legs around and sat up, pushing my hair out of my face. "I’m fine. Where’ve you been?"

He waved his hand dismissively. "Nowhere important, I can tell you."

I raised an eyebrow.

"I’ve been sitting in Dumbledore’s office, listening to him interview people," he said, looking decidedly ticked off. "Some of these people…I didn’t know it was possible for so many idiots to exist in such a small space."

"Interview people for what?"

He groaned tiredly. "Defence Against the Dark Arts…what else?" he growled. "Can’t understand why they don’t just hire Lupin back but I suppose the whole were-wolf thing’s got them pissing in their pants, doesn’t it?"

"Um, yes, I suppose."

He regarded me with his magical eye revolving around his head for a good five minutes. "Heard you and Black got a new assignment," he said casually.

"Of course you did," I said witheringly.

He smirked. "Well, I thought you might want to know something very interesting."

"Enlighten me, Alastor."

"The book they stole is about dimensions."

"Dimensions? Wow…I can’t even express how interesting that is."

He shrugged. "Yeah, I know. Oh well. We just want it back. I don’t know if we’ll actually be able to use it but, can’t make it easy for them, can we?"

I nodded. "Right."

He straightened up and sighed heavily. "I should be getting back to Hogwarts. Hiding in the fireplace is really rather unpleasant, you know."

"Fireplace?" I echoed.

"You didn’t think I’d be allowed to sit there, in the open, did you? Silly girl…I’ll see you later!"

Hiding in the fireplace. Honestly, only Moody…

*****

It was eleven thirty and I was standing outside a supposed Death Eater camp with Akilah McFadden and Sirius Black. They were not too fond of each other. Let me illustrate.

"McFadden, that’s going to blow up the entire building."

Mumbled curses and then, "What the hell do you know? This one’ll reveal any hidden curses, it will. Then we can disarm them, we can."

"Not if we’re dead," Sirius muttered witheringly.

The spell turned out to do neither of the two things. In fact, it just managed to turn a neighbouring tree upside down.

"Told you," Sirius said triumphantly.

"Sod off."

"I wouldn’t recommend using that one…you’ll make the walls disappear."

McFadden was gritting his teeth now. "No, it won’t."

"Yes, it will. You really shouldn’t use that one. Why don’t you-"

"Black, I’m warning you!"

This constant bickering continued until I was ready to slap the both of them. Thankfully, McFadden managed to penetrate the shields before that happened.

"You two have just under a half hour, you do," he said, making sure the shield really was gone by tossing a brick through an open window.

Nothing exploded so he continued. "After that, I can’t tell you what’ll happen. Worst case, the shields will lock and you won’t be able to get out. If that happens, you’ll have to find an alternate exit, you will."

"That won’t happen," said Sirius confidently. I raised one eyebrow in question.

McFadden completely ignored him, turning to me instead. "You’ll have to find one of their underground tunnels. I’d suggest heading towards the east. The wards don’t extend that far and if they do, they only work for coming in. Going out is-"

"Yes, yes, we hear you." Sirius was looking rather impatient now.

"I can’t stress how careful you’ll have to be, I can’t," he said, nodding towards the building. "That’s just a health hazard waiting to happen, that one is. You’ll have to be real cautious-like and everything."

Sirius pushed past him. "Thanks," he said sarcastically. "We’re going now."

Akilah McFadden snorted with annoyance and then disapparated, waving to me as he did so.

"All right, what was that?"

"Sorry?"

"Flirting with him! For Heaven’s sake, don’t you think that-"

"Flirting?!? Sirius, are you out of your mind? We’re about to sneak into a Death Eaters’ Camp and steal a book from them and you think

I’m flirting?!?" I hissed. "I’m thirty-four years old. I don’t flirt!"

Sirius made a face. "All right, all right! Keep your voice down!"

"Then stop behaving like such a complete ass."

He shut up and we made our way into the house. I could tell, from the way he was standing, that he was more than a little ticked off at me but I really couldn’t care less. Flirting…for crying out loud!

I followed him around blindly, not having a clue as to where we were going, until he stopped dead.

"What? What is it?" I asked frantically, looking around for Death Eaters that were peering into the shadows.

"I see it."

I paused. "Where?"

"It’s in that bookcase."

"How can you see it then?" I asked sensibly. "It’s too far away."

He glanced back at me. "Trust me."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. Now what?"

"Think we can summon it and then run like mad?"

I chewed on my lip thoughtfully. "Nope."

"Think you can cause a diversion while I get it?"

I snorted. "And get us both killed in the process, sure."

He looked at me critically before reaching behind and twisting my hair out of the knot that I usually wore it in.

"What are you doing?"

He continued fiddling with my hair and then dropped his hand hastily. "Just go in and do your…flirting thing."

"I don’t flirt!" I hissed. "Especially not with…them."

He shrugged, giving me a look that wasn’t really amused. "Well, you seemed to like McFadden enough to."

‘Am I the only person who’s confused here?’ I suppose so, really. I am the only other person here, after all. Turning my back on him, I marched haughtily into the room, watching Sirius out of the corner of my eye. This was stupid, really. He was a wanted man; if they caught him, he’d go straight back to Azkaban. That didn’t seem to be bothering him though. In fact, no one really paid him much attention until he’d actually touched the book.

"What are you doing?" A middle-aged man snarled at Sirius.

He stopped immediately but didn’t turn around. I figured this was my cue and hurried forward. "There you are!"

The man shot me a look. "Who’re you?"

I could see a bottle of whiskey on the table behind him and if my estimation was better than Fletcher’s, it was nearly half done. "Your every dream," I whispered, in what I hoped was a seductive manner. I hadn’t really had to do the whole ‘I’m a woman, hear me roar’ thing in a very long time.

A disgustingly sly smile appeared on his face and he forgot all about Sirius and stepped closer to me. "And what’s your name?"

My mind went blank. "Erm…Jack," I coughed out, spying the Jack Daniels bottle. "I mean, Jacquéline."

"Well… Jacquéline," he said, another smile appearing as his eyes travelled down my body as if I were a piece of meat, "it’s certainly a treat to meet you."

I could see Sirius hovering in the doorway. Couldn’t the stupid git just go? I could get out just fine on my own, if all the people were this easy. I leaned forward so that my mouth was right next to his ear. "I can tell you about all sorts of treats…" I could not believe I was doing this. But I was trying to give Sirius ample time to, well, leave.

The man seemed absolutely delighted by this statement and proceeded to deliver another line that sounded something like. "My name’s Bob…remember it…you’ll be screaming it later."

I was rather appalled that people actually used that line and meant it but what could I do, right? I giggled like a fool and then took his arm, leading him outside. I couldn’t see Sirius anymore and I could only hope that he’d taken the initiative and left.

No sooner had we crossed the threshold, the man was ripped away and smashed headfirst into a closet. His nose collided with a fist and then the wall and then he was silent.

"Sirius?" I hissed in disbelief as he nursed his already-bruised knuckles.

He glared at me nastily. "I said flirt. Not sleep with."

"I didn’t sleep with anybody!"

"You were going to!"

"I was not!"

"You were too!"

"No I wasn’t!"

"Were too!"

I sighed in defeat. "All right, Sirius. You win. I was about to engage in sexual intercourse with a very drunk, very disgusting, very old man. You’ve found out my secret. Oh no. Whatever shall I do." This was all said very sarcastically but Sirius didn’t look in the least bit amused.

"Oo-kay. You have the book. Let’s go."

We’d made it exactly five steps when he said, "You were going to sleep with him!"

I rolled my eyes.

"What is the matter with you?!?" he raged. "Do you have no morals?!? Where the hell are your values?!?" He said something else too but by that time, I’d tuned out and was no longer listening to him. "-break, ouch, why did you hit me?"

"I think we’re going the wrong way."

"Oh yeah? And why’s that?"

I gestured to the five Death Eaters blocking the stairs in front of us. "We could start with them and then move on to the other five behind us and then I could kill you for talking so damn loud!"

Well, then it was the whole Aurors meet Death Eaters thing. Curses were blocked, exchanged and caught. It quickly became apparent that there were really only two experienced Dark Wizards in the crowd. The rest of them dropped like flies, if you’ll pardon the cheesy cliché, but two were being really very awkward.

"Get the wand away from Ugly!" Sirius grunted, as he blocked a Leg-Locker curse.

"Which one’s that?" I snapped back, dodging a well-aimed Stunning spell.

"The one on the left."

I didn’t even bother trying to tell him that the one on the left was noticeably weaker than the other one. What good would it have done me anyway?

I’d just managed to wrestle away the wand from Ugly (don’t ask how…but never under-estimate the power of hitting a man in the groin) when a loud crash made me stop. Stunning him as quickly as I could, I turned around.

In that instant, at that very moment, I could have sworn that my heart stopped beating.

Mop-head (the one who Sirius had been exchanging hexes with, and whose hair really did resemble a mop) kicked Sirius’ wand out of the way, his own wand level with Sirius’ eyes. "Sirius Black…and here I thought you’d gone and disappeared."

Sirius smiled tightly. "Aurors don’t just disappear," he rasped out.

A look of intense rage fell over Mop-head’s face. A whispered word and Sirius was on his knees, fighting to catch his breath. I took a step forward but was immediately greeted by three new Death Eaters, their wands outstretched.

I whispered a spell that I hadn’t used in a long time and wasn’t even sure would work and the Death Eaters scattered. It caused Mop-head to falter and inadvertently release Sirius. He lay gasping for breath as I tried to make my way towards him.

All I did was find myself in the middle of flashes of bright light and curses that were more unforgivable than the Unforgivables. Three Death Eaters had decided to choose the Muggle way out and were kicking Sirius for all they were worth.

We were in a hell of a lot of trouble. "Petrificus Totalus!"

My full-body-bind didn’t exactly have the desired effect, as I was quickly met by a very weak and badly placed stunning spell.

Panicking like mad, I just started shrieking out every single charm, hex and curse I knew. I think I even got in Wingardium Leviosa, which is the biggest joke ever, but it caused no harm (to me). I eventually got handed a golden opportunity when two of the Death Eaters’ curses rebounded and hit the very Death Eaters who had fired them. From where he was lying on the floor, Sirius gathered enough strength to stun one of the remaining Death Eaters, who promptly fell down the stairs and the other, we disarmed at the same time.

His wand dropped to the floor and slumped on the wood, his body quite still. I dropped to my knees beside him, shaking him gently, even though it was a stupid thing to do. "Sirius…Sirius…oy!"

He groaned, his eyelids flickering. "That bloody hurts," he growled. "Stop it."

At least he was alive. "Sirius…where did they get you?"

"Everywhere," he snapped in a tone that betrayed he was in more pain than he wanted to let on.

I could hear people shouting and knew it was time to leave. With strength I had never possessed before, I hauled Sirius to his feet and around a corner. The voices grew louder and then faded as the Death Eaters dispersed to different parts of the castle, obviously in search of the two that weren’t meant to be there (that would be Sirius and me).

I draped his right arm around my shoulders and whispered the words to the Four-Point Spell, all the while praising James Potter for being so annoying when he was thirteen years old. He’d rushed into the common room one evening, unable to wait to show someone the great new charm he’d learned. I’d been the lucky person who hadn’t been able to escape his line of sight.

If I headed east, surely I’d find a way out. I just hoped McFadden really did know what he was talking about. We went down staircases, hallways, through doors of every kind (one even tried to attack us) and into rooms, hoping they’d lead somewhere that wasn’t here.

‘We must have been in here for over an hour,’ I mused. Sirius didn’t look as if that hour had done him any good. A thin sheen of sweat was forming on his forehead and I could feel his body trembling in pain.

Just when I thought the situation couldn’t get any worse, I heard footsteps. Sirius’ eyes widened in realization. "We need to get to the cellar. Way out underground," he muttered.

I quickened my pace, dragging him with me towards a large iron door. "What do I do, now?" I muttered to myself. Sirius didn’t reply. Biting down on my lip, I leaned forward and grasped the door handle in my right hand. It barely budged. I leaned Sirius against the wall and attacked the handle with both my hands. It moved slightly.

"What are you doing?" Sirius asked, drowsily. "Did they steal your wand?" He sounded concerned now and was trying to focus his eyes.

I paused. "Why didn’t I think of that?" I said rhetorically.

"Because you have a seizure every time something goes wrong?"

"Shut up. I thought you were unconscious."

He tried to smile and failed miserably. "Not yet. I just might be if you stand here and keep chatting to me though."

"Alohomora." The door swung open with a groan. I could just see the smirk Sirius was giving me, even though I still had my back to him.

"Say it and I’ll kill you."

He was indeed smirking. "I didn’t say anything."

"You thought it, though."

He just continued to smirk and it was getting really irritating. "Right, let’s go." His smirk turned to a wince as I helped him to his feet.

"Damnit."

"What?" I asked sharply.

He looked at me, frowning as if he couldn’t really see me. "Nothing…let’s just go."

We stepped through the doorway and it quickly became a very badly lighted hallway. Through another doorway and the light disappeared completely. It was dim and wet and bitterly cold. After a few metres, my shoes were soaked and my toes were starting to go numb.

"We’re nearly at the end," I said, trying to be encouraging.

"Liar."

I snorted. "I’m trying to be optimistic."

"You be optimistic. I’ll be realistic."

I rolled my eyes and was about to retort when Sirius stopped dead. "What is it?"

He paused. "I thought I heard something."

Wordlessly, I readjusted my arm around his waist and started walking faster. And then I heard it too. The faint sound of a shoe as it hit the stone floor.

"Slow…down…" Sirius wheezed.

I refused, quickening my stride again. "Are you mad? We’ve come too far to just stop now…we’re nearly there."

"No, we’re not," Sirius groaned.

"Shut up. I can hear water. If I’m hearing water, we must be closer."

"Either that or you’re hearing things," he grumbled.

I gnawed on my lip to stop the rude retort that was fighting to get out. "Just shut up."

He started slowing down. "In case you failed to notice, I’m in pain."

"I know but I can’t heal you and light my wand at the same time, can I? Please, Sirius…just come on."

He grunted something I couldn’t hear and then the glint from his eyes disappeared and I knew he’d shut them. "Maybe you should just leave me here."

I knew he was joking but at the same time, I knew he was serious. As an Auror, I was required to leave him here. He was a liability. But the other part of me, the human part, the part that cared, couldn’t do it. "That isn’t an option."

"I’m slowing you down," he murmured as we started walking again.

"I don’t care. I’m not leaving you down here. You’ve got to be kidding."

"Can’t believe I let them beat me up."

After a moment’s pause, I responded, "Losing your touch."

"Oh shut up. I was out-numbered."

"That’s what happens when you take on a Death Eater when you’re in a weakened state."

"Have you always been this sympathetic?" he asked sarcastically, breathing in sharply when he nearly tripped.

"It’s from the Auror’s Handbook."

The sound of water was getting slightly louder now and I was glad.

"There’s an Auror’s Handbook?"

I glanced over at him, even though I couldn’t see in the dark. "I suppose they thought it wouldn’t be of much use in your case."

"They just wanted someone who’d break the rules without knowing what they were," he said and I could hear the smile in his voice. It was quickly followed by a loud hacking cough that echoed and bounced of the stone walls.

I closed my eyes as the footsteps came even closer. "Come on," I urged Sirius, trying to tug him along.

He stopped and leaned against the wall, nearly bent double in pain. "You go," he managed to gasp out. "I can’t…won’t…get-"

"Don’t be so absolutely ridiculous!" I snapped, more in fear than in anger. "You just need to take a quick rest. Right, rest’s over. Come on."

I grabbed his arm and started pulling him along, further into the darkness of the tunnel. It was starting to get a little lighter or maybe I was hallucinating.

He stumbled, reaching out a hand to steady himself. "Ri, please," he hissed. "Just go. I won’t make it anyway."

"Don’t piss me off," I warned, grabbing his arm once more and ploughing ahead.

He stopped abruptly, nearly throwing me over. "Ri, I’m serious. I can’t…I can barely breathe." And then Sirius, my Sirius, slid down the wall and closed his eyes. I think I must have hit him after that; I remember a bruise forming on his pale cheek and then I started to cry. I clung to his shirt and sobbed. Without him there, without talking to him, the dark was suddenly more shadowed than before and every little sound echoed so that I couldn’t even tell where it was coming from. And I was afraid. I couldn’t lose him. Not now. Not after all this time.

"Sirius, please, wake up," I pleaded, knowing that pleading was useless. I was so scared and I felt helpless. I pulled my wand out and with shaking fingers, tried desperately to heal his wounds. It was too dim and I was too preoccupied. "Damnit!" I cursed. "Oh, God, oh God, oh God…what do I do?"

Footsteps. They were coming closer. A light appeared in the distance. Shivering madly, I stood up, fully prepared to defend myself, if it came to that. Although, in my current state of panic, I didn’t know how good a job I would do.

A person, tall and slender held his wand hand out. The light blinded me and I twisted away. Blinking, I turned back. And came face to face with a figure shrouded in long, hooded robes. I got the distinct impression that it was a man, but only his eyes and fingers were visible so I couldn’t be sure.

We stared at each other for a very long minute. His silver eyes bore into mine, neither of us prepared to back down. And then his gaze flickered to Sirius, whose laboured breathing was even more shallow than before.

A flurry of emotions crossed the figure’s eyes, as if he were having some sort of inner struggle with himself. And then a faint look of determination settled in his eyes.

Wordlessly, he took a step closer and, taking hold of Sirius’ arm, hauled him into a standing position. His hands were very pale and smooth with a gleaming silver ring perched on the middle finger of his left hand. A beautifully scripted ‘M’ ran through it and I was surprised that such an obviously rich man was in a tunnel like this. He glanced at me. "Grab his other side, will you?" His voice was rough and gravelly and strangely familiar in a way I didn’t quite understand.

Confused, I did as I was told. We walked in silence, both supporting Sirius’ unconscious form.

"There’s an entrance into the tunnel about a quarter of a mile from here," he said quietly. "Just a few more minutes."

We lapsed back into silence but my mind was racing. Who was this man? And why was he helping me?

My questions were answered when we reached the entrance. I blinked in the bright moonlight. He kept walking until we reached a large oak tree. There, he lay Sirius down with surprising gentleness. He turned his back on me, preparing to leave.

"I don’t understand."

He glanced behind him. "You will."

I swallowed, processing this slowly.

He nodded, turning to leave once more, when he paused. "Follow the trail heading east. Ignore any of the signs you see." He paused again. "If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stop interfering."

"I can’t do that," I said quietly, kneeling beside Sirius and wiping the blood from his temple.

I didn’t look up, but I could tell from his tone of voice that he was smiling. "No…I really don’t think you can. Goodbye, Ms. Walsh." My head shot up but he had disappeared.

‘He knows my name.’

And then it was just me and Sirius left. I brushed his damp hair out of his face. "Don’t you dare die on me, Sirius." I didn’t know why I was speaking. He couldn’t hear me. But it was strangely comforting on that dark night so I kept going. "If you die, I’ll find you and force you to have a conversation with Severus. I know you’ll love that." Not for the first time did I wish he was awake, so he could slap me if nothing else. Not that he would, of course…but I digress.

I pulled myself together and forced myself to stop my hands from shaking. I took a deep breath and pressed two fingers against Sirius’ throat. His pulse was there. It was weak but it was there. Gingerly, I unbuttoned his shirt and pushed it back. Blood seeped from a gash in his side but it wasn’t as bad as I had previously thought. ‘That’s not a good thing, idiot,’ I muttered mentally. ‘That just means that the curses they used were worse than you thought.’

"First you check for outer wounds." Right, I’d done that. "Heal them as best you can," I recited softly to myself. I healed his exterior cuts and gashes so they no longer drenched his skin in blood but I hadn’t the faintest idea where to begin treating the curse aspects of his injuries.

His breathing was getting slower and less even than before.

"If breathing slows, check for evidence of any spells that could be inhibiting the airway passage." I racked my brains for what those could be and then slapped myself lightly on the side of the head. The familiar feeling of warmth spread through me, calming me down slightly. And Sirius did seem to be breathing a little better after that. I pushed my hair back, pulling my cloak over Sirius at the same time. Laying his head gently on my lap, I stroked his face before leaning back and thinking hard.

A faint rushing sound jerked me out of my time of contemplation. ‘Water!’

In relief, I got up, making sure Sirius’ head was carefully propped up on a large, smooth rock. Quickly, I muttered the words to a temporary shield and Sirius blended against the greenery and trees. As I walked into the forest, I marked each tree with a tap of my wand. A silver mark appeared on each one.

I was a little miffed at first. Anyone walking through those woods would see the stupid silver shape and besides…it was supposed to be a shade lighter than the colour it was cast on. And then I reached the stream. I knelt down, testing the water for various poisons. Of course, Severus would have done a much better job than me but after taking a quick sip and not dying, I assumed it was fine. I hunted around for something to put the water into. Eventually, I grabbed leaves, strung them together with a spell and hardened them with another. I walked back to where Sirius was lying, careful not to spill the water everywhere and taking off the markings as I passed them.

Sirius’ body was still lifeless. Gently, I sat him up, slapping him lightly. He moaned in pain.

"Sirius…drink this."

He turned his head away, his face screwed up in distress.

"Sirius," I said firmly, "drink this."

His eyelids flickered open and I touched his left eye carefully, making sure I’d healed it properly. "Ri?" he asked uncertainly.

I managed to drop a little of the cooling liquid down his throat before he turned away again. I set the make-shift cup down and smoothed his hair. "Sirius, I don’t think falling asleep again is such a good idea." How I’d missed this before was beyond me. "Are you listening?"

"You’re not real," he mumbled. "Dreaming…always dreaming…"

He was delirious. "You’re not dreaming," I said quietly, tearing off the sleeve of my robe to make a compress.

"I am, I am. I dream of you…always of you…" he moaned out.

My hand wavered. "Sirius, you’re not dreaming. This isn’t a dream. Unfortunately," I added, as an afterthought.

"Ri, I can’t see you!"

I looked at him sharply. His eyes were wide and staring and terrified. I poured some more water into his mouth and held him tightly as he swallowed it.

"Can’t see you," he mumbled again, softer this time.

"I’m still here."

He jerked up, sweat forming on his brow once more. "Are you sure?" he asked unsteadily.

"Very sure."

And so it continued into the night and early morning. I forced him to talk to me when his eyes started closing. I don’t even know what I was asking him. Stupid questions and he was replying with even more stupid answers. Twice, I went back into the forest for more water and each time I returned, Sirius was nearly asleep again.

Just hours before the first rays of sunlight danced across the horizon, I made a vow; if we managed to get through the night, I would tell him everything. The truth, what had really happened, why I had left and why, after fourteen years, I was still not prepared to leave him with Death Eaters just to save my own life.

When dawn finally broke, both Sirius and I were exhausted. It seemed that ever since I’d moved back here, all I’d done was be exhausted.

I got to my feet, stretching my legs before reaching down and pulling Sirius up. He swayed precariously before leaning against me. "Where are we going?" he asked, disoriented.

"To Moody’s house," I said quietly, knowing he had a headache from the way he kept scrunching up his nose.

"Oh, are we really?" he said, stumbling slightly on the undergrowth.

I wrapped an arm around his waist and started guiding him away from the forest. I didn’t even know where the hell we were or where we were going…but I was going east, which might have been helpful but for the life of me, I couldn’t remember why I was going east.

By the time we stopped to rest, the sun was high in the sky and we were still in the wilderness. Sirius had long ago stopped talking and the only way I could tell he was awake was from the way his feet kept standing on mine.

Every step I took felt like it would be the last. Sirius was starting to get extremely heavy and I could barely see where I was going. The surroundings were starting to look slightly more familiar and by my very badly estimated calculations, we would reach Moody’s house in a couple of hours.

By nightfall, we had reached the edge of Moody’s property. I was nearly dying of exhaustion and had had to stop twice at a tiny little brook to force Sirius to drink some water.

Knowing that I wouldn’t be able to reach the house, I walked over to a secret passage that Moody had only shown me a week earlier. It was tangled in the grass and weeds but I found it and muttered the password. I shoved Sirius inside and then dropped in myself. I was falling and I didn’t really care.

*****

My eyes opened and the first thing I saw was Alastor Moody’s disfigured face. I yelped in alarm.

He shot me a sour look. "Feeling better then?"

I paused, taking in the room, which was dark, dusty and rather hot. "Where the hell are we?"

"In the hideout," he stated dramatically. "It has other rooms, you know."

"Where’s Sirius?" He smirked, looking amused. "I’m just asking! Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Black’s going to be fine. They’ve just gotten him all fixed up and everything. He’s resting. What happened?"

I settled down against the pillows before jerking up again. "Is he all right? Can I see him?"

"Yes and no, you can’t. You’re not allowed to leave that bed for another few hours yet."

"When did we get here?"

He shrugged. "An hour or so. Nearly had a heart attack when the two of you came thundering through the ceiling. Think you could warn me next time?"

"Where’s Fletcher?"

Moody snorted derisively. "Oh, he’ll be here once he’s done his assignment. He’ll be royally pissed off, I can tell you that now."

"How thoughtful of you to share that with me."

"I told him we should have sent more people on that job, you know. He’s so damn daft half the time. He wanted to just send McFadden, which is the stupidest idea he’s ever come up with. McFadden might be good at breaking curses but the man has no idea when it comes to Death Eaters. No common sense either. Stupid oaf," he said with feeling. I wasn’t sure whether he was referring to McFadden or to Fletcher.

"Anyway, I convinced him to let you and Black go. Knew you’d survive it." Was that…pride in his voice?

"We were screwed," I muttered, rubbing my eyes. "A Death Eaters’ Camp! There must have been over twenty of them."

"Yeah, figured something like that would happen. But I can’t override his instructions. Unfortunately. They’re always so damned harebrained. You two got out though!"

I wondered if I should bother telling him about the mysterious, silver-eyed man who’d shown me the way out and then decided against it.

Knowing Moody, he’d make some wrong judgments and tell Sirius, who would then assume I’d offered some sort of sexual favour in return.

But I’m not bitter. "Yes. We did."

He shot me a disapproving look. "Don’t sound too excited or anything."

I shrugged. "Fletcher’s going to kill me."

"Oh, Lass! Fletcher couldn’t kill a dead fly," he said dismissively. "He’ll probably give you a bunch of crap jobs for a while, but nothing you can’t live with. Maybe you’ll get to stay all day in this stupid house and go to Dover in the evenings."

"Have you talked to Carine?"

He nodded. "You picked a very good time to get hexed," he said, trying to stop smirking. "The hospital’s death rates have gone down and they haven’t had as much trouble. Don’t know why, of course, but we won’t trouble about it."

I sighed heavily. "Are you sure Sirius is all right?"

Moody waved me off. "Of course he will be. Anyway. You’re supposed to drink that. Our medics said something about…over-exhaustion, I think it was. In any case, drink it or they’ll have my eye."

I took a sip and before I could retort, the world fell away.

Fletcher was pacing the room up and down muttering things I couldn’t quite hear.

"Fancy seeing you here," I murmured sleepily.

He whirled around, glaring at me. "Oh, awake, are we?"

I winced at his biting tone. "Alive too. Where’s Sirius?"

He dodged my question. "Feeling all right? Need anything?"

"I’m fine. And some water would be nice. Where’s Sirius?" I asked again

"He got taken back to Lupin’s. Safer there, you know." I hid my disappointment. It was safer at Lupin’s. He was more inconspicuous that Moody and, so I’d heard, lived in an even more remote area. Fletcher poured a glass and held it out to me. He watched me drink it and set the glass on the side table before clearing his throat. "Might as well get to the point then, huh?"

"Either that or you could stop pacing because you’re making me dizzy."

He pursed his lips but proceeded to pull up a chair and drop into it. "Got you a knew assignment. You start whenever I get a hold of all the information."

I was absolutely speechless. "You have got to be kidding me!"

He pursed his lips. "I kid you not, Walsh."

I swallowed my anger. We’d just gotten back, for crying out loud! "What do we have to do?"

He narrowed his eyes at me, fixing his gaze on a spot above my head. "That’s another thing…I feel that, under the circumstances, you and Mr. Black will be best working apart."

"Fletcher-" I started.

"As you know," he continued, "an Auror is supposed to follow orders. An Auror is supposed to ensure that innocent lives will not be lost. They are not supposed to get themselves killed. Especially killed for another Auror. It’s ludicrous."

I got to my feet. "Maybe the first time Voldemort attacked it was ludicrous," I started, fighting to keep my voice even, "but there aren’t enough of us around anymore to keep that rule in effect! Hell, if we don’t look out for each other, who will?"

"That is not what we are discussing," he said tightly. "We are discussing the fact that rules were broken on the last two assignments you’ve been on and-"

"Says who?"

"Damnit, Walsh!" he snapped. "Don’t you think I know what happened? If you were put under the Suffocating curse, the only way you could have gotten out of it is if you managed to counter-attack the wizard or if you were helped. And seeing that there were over fifteen Dark Wizards, I’m more apt to believe that it was the latter one. And if Black was comatose last night, you must have brought him back."

"Fletcher, we got the files and neither of us died. We got the book and neither of us died. We fulfilled our tasks and you have no right to-"

"Don’t you tell me what rights I do and don’t have!" he thundered.

I fell silent, glowering at him.

"I know that the two of you were once together but that does not mean-"

"Don’t even try and tell me what it does or doesn’t mean," I snarled, mimicking him. "Sirius and I know how to judge each other’s movements without even speaking! We know how to listen to each other and how to understand what the other is about to do. We know how to work together! How many of your Aurors can say that, Fletcher?"

He sighed in defeat. "I’m just trying to make sure that no one gets killed, all right?" he said, lowering his voice. "And I’m one hundred percent sure that leaving the two of you working together will get one or even both of you murdered."

"Those Death Eaters weren’t supposed to have been there," I murmured, for lack of anything better to say. "If they hadn’t-"

"This isn’t up for discussion, Walsh," he said tiredly. "Just accept it. I don’t know what I was thinking when I paired the two of you together, anyway. It was a stupid thing to do."

I looked away. "So, I’m flying solo now?"

He nodded. "I’m sorry…but-"

"Whatever, it’s not like I care or anything," I said bitterly.

He sighed heavily and turned to leave. "Don’t blame Black for this…it isn’t his fault."

I regarded him angrily. "No, it isn’t," I said pointedly.

He shook his head and stepped into the fireplace.

Shaking my head angrily, I was about to turn over on my side when Fletcher’s voice stopped me.

"I’m really sorry, you know."

I stared at him, softening. "It doesn’t matter."

"Of course it does. I know what he means to you. But you can’t let that get in the way of the world."

"What he meant to me," I corrected. "And I know, the fate of the world comes before an Auror’s life."

He regarded me silently, shaking his head.

"What? They teach us that in training."

He chuckled. "That’s not what I was laughing at." He paused. "You’re so very convinced that you don’t need him."

"I don’t."

"Maybe it isn’t about you needing him."

And then he really did leave. I lay glaring at the fireplace and wishing that I could change everything and nothing at the same time.

*****

I got to spend the next two days lazing on the couch and reading stupid books that didn’t really have a whole lot to do with anything.

On the morning of the third day, as I sat at the table reading the paper and drinking some coffee, Moody clomped into the kitchen, singing about wishing wells and dragons.

He popped two pieces of bread into the toaster and turned around, smiling jovially. "Have I told you how much I love this appliance? Muggles might not be able to fly, but they do create some great stuff." He sighed in happiness.

I raised one amused eyebrow but said nothing.

"It’s always a challenge, you know. Getting the toast just right…" He was starting to get into the finer points of toasting bread when both pieces popped up. "See? See? Tell me, do wizards have anything that good? No!" He buttered his toast and took a huge bite. "Good morning, by the way."

I smiled but my reply was lost as Fletcher came flouncing into the kitchen, wiping soot off his robes. "Ah, good! Walsh, you’re up. I come bearing news."

I ignored him, taking another sip of my coffee.

"You’re going to a Ministry convention this evening."

Slowly, I laid the paper on the table. "What?"

He smiled sheepishly, scratching his head. "Uh yes…you see, we need a female Auror to go to this convention with Gregory Douglas. He’s a bit of an idiot, really. Definitely one of the dimmer light bulbs. But we have reason to believe that there will be Death Eaters there. So…it’ll be your job to make sure no one dies. And gather what information you can, of course."

"Oh, good-ie!"

He paid no attention to me. "Dress robes, of course. And this assignment is simple. Hopefully you’ll be able to handle it."

I had to restrain myself from sticking my tongue out at him, which really wouldn’t have been the mature thing to do.

"You’ll be apparating, I assume?" Without giving me a chance to answer, he continued, "I have the instructions," he handed me some papers, "and Gregory will be waiting for you at the front doors. Don’t screw this up."

"As if I would!"

"Yes, well…dress robes, remember."

He nodded to both Moody and me and then he was gone. Moody stood chewing his toast thoughtfully. "You’ve got a date with an Auror who works at the Ministry."

I tossed the paper at him half-heartedly. "Oh, shut up. I fail to see how it’s a date. Gregory Dougal, my ass."

"Douglas," he corrected with a wry grin.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, whatever. And stop smirking like that!" I got up and stormed out of the kitchen, leaving Moody with his toaster.

I spent the rest of my very pathetic day lounging around the house doing nothing productive. Moody had pointedly placed the ‘Symbols’ book in front of me but I had completely ignored it.

At ten past six, I wandered upstairs and started pawing through my closet for a set of dress robes that looked like moths hadn’t eaten them for dinner. My search proved to be futile. I needed new robes. I ended up pulling on robes that were slightly too long and a deep scarlet colour. I surveyed myself in front of the mirror, wrinkling my nose. On impulse, I pulled the muggle pencil out of my hair, letting it cascade down my shoulders. I shrugged. It needed trimming.

I tucked my wand into the belt of my robes and made my way downstairs. "Moody, I’m going!"

He poked his head out of the kitchen where he was toasting bread (surprise, surprise) and blinked in, well, surprise. "Lass?"

I stared at him. "Yes?"

"Nice hair."

"Oh shut up," I muttered good-naturedly.

"Are you going then?"

I nodded, pulling on my shoes. "Be careful. I don’t much feel like explaining to your man why you’re in a little wooden box."

I drew out my wand. "He’s not my man and I’ll see you tomorrow."

*****

Gregory Douglas was boring and so was the stupid convention. I did manage to find myself in very awkward circumstances, such as when I bumped (quite literally) into Percy Weasley and when I found myself conversing with a man who was quite obviously trying to see down my robes. Needless to say, I made excuses and hurried off to a place that wasn’t there.

I was also starting to get a little annoyed. Everywhere I turned, Douglas would be there, grabbing my arm, steering me across the room, pulling me out of conversations…it was driving me crazy.

Getting rather fed up by the lack of happenings, I took a walk. Ministry conventions are always held in a huge hall, which is surrounded by thousands of other rooms and studies and the like. Most people get drunk and use the rooms as a form of awakening, if you know what I mean, but before that happens, they are empty. At least, they usually are.

"Not having a good time?"

I jumped a foot in the air. Placing a hand over my racing heart, I turned around. Two men stood behind me, both very tall and draped in black cloaks. "Erm…I was just looking around."

One of the men walked forward, extending his hand and I, seeing the man still standing by the fireplace, very nearly drew back. "Rupert Rutter," he said with a charming smile. "This is my associate, Lucius Malfoy."

I shook hands with Mr. Rutter and then turned to Lucius Malfoy, who had a strange look on his face. "Pleased to see you again, Mr. Malfoy,"

I greeted, bowing my head slightly.

He shook my hand, nearly crushing the bones with his large silver ring. I stared at it and slowly, my eyes met his. No…it wasn’t possible…

"Oh, you know, Lucius, do you?" I dropped Malfoy’s hand as if I’d been burned.

"Her father works for the Ministry," Lucius offered, smiling. "You’ll have to tell him I said hello."

"I…will."

"Well, Lucius and I must be headed back to the party," Rutter said with another charming smile. I diverted my attention back to him, but I could still see Lucius in my peripheral vision. He appeared to be fiddling with something on the desk. "I do find these things rather tedious, you know. It’s a shame that these things are mandatory, really. Most of us would prefer just taking the night off, you know." He chuckled. "I suppose it really does come with the territory though, doesn’t it." Another smile. "Well, it was certainly a pleasure to meet you…"

"Rupert, we really must be going," Lucius interrupted, gesturing to the door. "We will be missed."

Rutter nodded to me and then the door closed. I stared at it, unable to comprehend what the hell was going on.

I glanced at the desk. Something had been scrawled on the piece of parchment lying on the top.

Don’t leave.

I stared at it, picking it up and taking a seat on the plush sofa. Only ten minutes had passed when the door opened again and the blond man walked back in. He shut the door gently, locking it.

"You stayed then?"

"Looks like it."

He turned to face me. "You know." A statement.

Slowly, my eyes met his silver one. "I do."

"Who’ve you told?"

"No one."

He nodded to himself. "A wise choice, Aria."

"Was it, Lucius?"

He winced. "All right…first names are not in the question. Ms. Walsh then…what do you want? Money? A job, perhaps? Something else?"

I stared at him and I knew I looked disgusted. "Don’t try to buy me, Lucius," I warned. "I don’t work like that."

"No," he mused. "I rather think you don’t." He walked leisurely over to the curtains. Lifting the heavy drapes, he peered outside. It was raining.

"I want to know why."

He turned back to me, dropping the heavy silk curtain. "Why what?"

I rolled my eyes, getting up and tossing his note into the fire. "I don’t play games, Lucius."

He leered at me. "Yes, a pity about that."

I shook my head. "Answer me."

A long silence passed between us and all I could hear was the steady beating of rain on the pavement outside.

"Malfoy’s are known for their honour."

"Not their dealings with the Dark Arts? You’re joking."

"And," he continued, "I owed you."

I stared at him, incredulously, unable to believe what I was hearing. "Lucius, it was years ago!"

"I still owed you. Believe me, I would like nothing better than to pretend that night never happened. But it’s permanently etched into my brain. I can’t forget it, God knows I’ve tried." His gaze met mine again. "Perhaps now you can consider the debt repaid."

I let out a breath I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding. "I never held you for that debt," I said quietly. "And I didn’t save your life so that you would have to repay me."

He nodded slowly. "You should watch your back. It’s…dangerous now."

"You should do the same, Lucius," I replied in the same tone. "Goodnight."

He caught my arm before I left the room. "I’m warning you…be careful," he said earnestly.

I pulled open the door. "I know."

"Aria."

I turned back around but he was no longer facing me.

"Please…be careful. Female Aurors…"

"I know," I said again.

He sighed heavily, leaning over the desk. "Tangled, isn’t it?"

I looked down at the doorknob. "What is?"

"The choices we make."

Even though he couldn’t see me, I nodded before slipping out and closing the door behind me.

Gregory Douglas was standing so close to me, I yelped.

"What were you doing?"

I stepped away from him, slightly irritated. "Having wild pornographic sex. What do you think?"

"Was that Lucius Malfoy?" he asked, conveniently changing the subject.

"Do you have a problem?" I snapped, unable to keep it in. He was smothering me.

"Look, I’m just trying to protect you from-"

"I’ve had it with people trying to protect me," I snarled, trying my best to keep my voice down. "So, do us both a favour. Sod off!" I shoved past him and stormed down the stairs, out the front doors and into the rain.

It drenched my robes, making it harder for me to walk but I didn’t care. I’d just about had it. I wasn’t some little girl that needed to be taken care of. I knew what I was doing and I might not have done it very well, but I could keep myself alive. It’s strange though…I found my anger directed at Sirius. Sirius who was constantly trying to look out for me, to take care of me, to bloody well save me!

I pulled out my wand and apparated to Moody’s house and stormed into the house. He was sitting on the sofa, leaving through a book when I stalked in, soaking wet and pissed off beyond belief.

"Is it over already? Why, it’s barely midnight. And…why are you wet?"

"I want to know where Sirius is," I growled.

Moody raised an eyebrow. "You want to what?"

"If you even dare start going about my well-being, I swear, I’ll throw something at you."

He raised his other eyebrow. "All right, Lass…all right. Don’t you want to change fir-"

"Moody, no! I don’t want to change first!"

He looked slightly taken aback. "Erm…okay, okay…I’ll just get my cloak and we’ll-"

"You don’t get it," I said tiredly. "I want to see Sirius on my own."

"I know. I’m just saying that I’ll take-"

"Just tell me where he is," I said, weary of the whole conversation.

Moody regarded me for a very long time. "Are you sure you’re ready for that, Lass?"

I stopped. Was I? If I went to Sirius now, if I started talking to him now…I would tell him everything. No matter how much it hurt, no matter how hard it was, I would tell him. "Yes."

The choices we make…