The Everlasting Day

9

"At times I almost dream
I too have spent a life the sages' way,
And tread once more familiar paths. Perchance
I perished in an arrogant self-reliance
Ages ago; and in that act a prayer
For one more chance went up so earnest, so
Instinct with better light let in by death,
That life was blotted out -- not so completely
But scattered wrecks enough of it remain,
Dim memories, as now, when once more seems
The goal in sight again."

- 'Paracelsus', Robert Browning

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Sirius hadn't really expected Ariadne to follow him down to the pump house. After all, they'd both needed some time to calm down. But all the same, when he awoke to see that the morning light was creeping underneath the doorway and she hadn't come, it irritated the wound and the pain resurfaced.

Sighing, he rolled over, gently lifted Buckbeak's wing and slid out from beneath it. He yawned, stretched and pulled off the cloak, doublet and shirt before heading outside into the beautiful late July morning. The pool was freezing but invigorating as he dived in, staying beneath the water for as long as he dared until the pressure in his lungs forced him up for air. As he burst from the water, running his hands through his hair and pushing the water from his face, he was amazed to see Ariadne standing on the bank dressed in a simple claret skirt, matching top and crocheted, tassled shawl draped around her shoulders. Her hair was pinned back from her face but it was falling in tangled waves down her back and her eyes sparkled even though they were a little puffy and red. She still looked breathtaking, much to his annoyance.

His eyes darted away from her as he climbed from the pool, dried his trousers with his wand and walked past her back towards the pump house.

'Sirius?'

He stopped, closed his eyes and sighed before turning around to face her. He didn't say anything, waiting for her.

'I came out to see if you wanted some breakfast,' she said tentatively, smiling softly when he briefly glanced at her.

'No,' he replied curtly and continued up the path.

'Please don't be like this...Sirius...'

He stopped again, turned around. She was standing on the path a few feet behind him, the shawl pulled tight around her, her arms folded across her chest. Tears shimmered in her eyes and she was biting her lower lip, trying to keep the tears from falling.

'I'm not hungry,' he said, just as gruffly. She had hurt him deeply and shedding a few tears and offering him breakfast wasn't going to change anything. The way he was feeling at the moment, he doubted whether he would be staying around for much longer anyway. He could learn to deal with the loneliness - it was the pain he couldn't stand.

'I'm sorry, Sirius,' she sputtered just as he was about to turn away again, 'I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you - Merlin, that's the last thing I would ever want to do after everything you've been through, but I'm not as strong as you...I said things I didn't mean...I was frightened and I... I just don't want us to quarrel anymore, I can't stand it, Sirius. I'm frightened and I need you...please...'

As much as his wounded pride would have loved him to wallow in his own misery for a little while longer, the sight of her standing there in tears and desperate for reassurance reduced even his stubbornness to quiet submission. He stepped back down the path towards her and pulled her without hesitation into his arms. For a few moments he just held her, feeling her arms encircling his waist as she clung to him almost desperately. When she eventually loosened her hold on him, his hands moved tenderly over her back, through her hair to her face.

'Feel better now?' he asked softly, tilting her chin, making her look at him.

She nodded, quickly wiping her tears away with a self-conscious half smile.

'Good,' he said, bending to touch a kiss to her forehead. 'Why don't we go have that breakfast then?'

The half-smile broadened as she read the forgiveness in his eyes without him having to say a word.

'That sounds good.'

He had always known that the reason behind her rather unfair attack had been fear, but he also knew that he wouldn't have been quite so volatile himself if she hadn't struck a nerve by saying that she thought he had been confrontational. The truth was that he had been itching for some action after being restricted for so long and he was forced to admit to himself that he had perhaps behaved a touch recklessly last night. But then they'd both said things they regretted and he loved her far too much to waste the time they had been given with petty point scoring, prolonging her punishment with childish silence. He had no doubt that Snape's life would have been in danger whether or not he had antagonised Malfoy anyway.

He reached for her hand and they walked back up to the house together, happy in the peaceful silence that enveloped them now which was a thousand times better than the vacuum of last night.

* * *

Breakfast turned out to be extended into lunch after they had decided to take the rest of the coffee, toast and bacon back upstairs to make up for the previous night apart. They had both sorely needed the distraction anyway so that they could try to approach the problem that the Malfoy had forced upon them with fresh minds.

'I was thinking,' Ariadne said as she sat up among the pillows, pulling the handmade quilt up over her chest, 'what about Polyjuice potion? Could we get them to believe that someone else is Severus?'

Sirius turned onto his side, propping himself up on his elbow, his other hand trailing lazily over her thighs beneath the quilt. 'And what? Get someone who's hell bent on being tortured to death to take his place?'

'Well...if you put it that way...I suppose it wasn't the brightest of ideas, was it?'

'Well, don't discard it. I mean, it's a possibility that we could consider, but only after I've managed to re-enter the wizarding community again, and even then, it's going to involve telling people what we're doing. I don't think that would be very wise with my history. I think the only person I would trust with something like that would be Dumbledore and I would never even consider asking him. Let's set that idea on the 'maybe' pile.'

'Yeah,' she sighed, 'you're probably right. Well, there is one more thing I was considering.'

'Oh...' he groaned, leaning into her as she slipped her arm around him. 'This sounds ominous.'

She laughed softly. 'You have such faith in me, don't you?'

'No...no, it's not that at all! It's just that your ideas make me think that I was safer inside Azkaban.'

She jabbed him playfully in the ribs and for a few minutes, the conversation degenerated into something more physical as he grabbed her and pulled her on top of him...giggling, teasing, touching and kissing, lost in the moment...in each other.

'So,' she sighed breathlessly when they eventually broke apart. 'What do you think about the idea of telling him?'

He was still on a wholly different plane of consciousness as his hands, and his lips, still wandered over the peach-soft skin of her belly. 'Telling who? What?...Merlin...you're so beautiful, Ari....'

'Severus.'

His affection ceased abruptly as he rolled over onto his back and sighed, covering his face with his hands for a few moments before dragging them slowly down. Somehow, the thought of Snape had killed off the magic of the moment for him.

'That's an even worse idea than the Polyjuice.'

'Thanks,' she said dryly.

'He can barely stand to be in the same room as either of us, for goodness sake! Anyway, the last time I saw him he was bent on giving Remus and I to the Dementors. Such a nice chap, your brother... What on earth makes you think that he'll even speak to us, let alone help us anyway?'

'The self-preservation instinct is pretty strong in most people, isn't it? Severus isn't any different. I love him, but I also know that he's a selfish, arrogant man who will act if he knows his life is in danger. I think we would be arrogant too, to think that we could carry on with this alone. We have to tell someone what we're doing, Sirius. Because of your history.'

He knew that she was right because of the heavy, nauseating feeling that was making a home in the bottom of his stomach. Feeling ill usually meant one of two things for him; guilt or an uncomfortable realisation. In this case, it was the latter.

They had been through the worst - passed the Death Eaters initiation; manipulated Malfoy into using his influence to make it common knowledge that Pettigrew was still alive; regained some measure of freedom for him that would keep the Dementors away, at least for a while - if they proceeded much further and someone were to see them or to misunderstand, they would both be thrown into Azkaban quicker than he could say 'miscarriage of justice'. And this time it would be the Kiss and there would be nothing anyone could do to help him. This was his last chance. Maybe it was time to tell Dumbledore and, more importantly Harry. Sirius would have hated for Harry to hear some rumour about his godfather that would potentially undo everything that had been done over the past few months.

After all, if the Death Eaters were watching them, they would be expected to go to Hogwarts. Meeting with Snape would be expected too. There seemed to be little they could do to avoid it.

'Alright,' he sighed eventually. 'Let's say we do go to Hogwarts and we do tell him. What if he refuses to see us? Refuses to listen?'

'Then we'll think about that at the time,' she continued, her voice carrying an edge of excitement now that he wasn't shooting her down in flames. 'I'm sure that he will listen though, Sirius. We did get along once, albeit a long time ago. Give him a chance.'

'Oh I can give him a chance. Whether he'll give me one is another matter. Anyway, it's all a bit moot at the moment because we haven't had the all-clear from Malfoy yet.'

'Well...actually,' she said sheepishly, shifting away from him to reach beneath the mattress for a battered, well-thumbed copy of that morning's Prophet.

He sat up, grabbing for it eagerly. 'Let me see! What's it say?'

'Uh-uh,' she teased, holding it away from him. 'Not until you say the magic words.'

'Accio Prophet,' Sirius grinned, the paper flying from her fingers - even though he hadn't used his wand - and landing in his hand. He shrugged at her blank expression. 'They work faster than 'please'.'

Ariadne rolled her eyes as she jabbed him playfully again before settling against his side with his arm around her as they read the front page together.

SIRIUS BLACK SENSATIONALLY AQUITTED IN SPECIALLY CONVENED MINISTRY HEARING.

Sirius Black, notorious as the only wizard ever to escape from Azkaban, has been sensationally acquitted, in his absence, of all charges relating to the deaths of twelve Muggles and wizard, Peter Pettigrew in the infamous incident following the demise of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named in 1981. Black had served twelve years for the crime before escaping in 1993 and thereafter successfully eluding capture.

A specially convened late-night session at the Wizengamot held yesterday heard evidence from Mr Lucius Malfoy who had previously witnessed Mr Peter Pettigrew in London last week almost thirteen years after his supposed murder. Mr Malfoy - outraged at the miscarriage of justice that seemed to have befallen Black under the previous administrator of the Ministry of Magic's Magical Law Enforcement Department, Mr Devon Brussels - tracked Mr Pettigrew's movements, corned and captured him yesterday at a condemned house in London's East End where Mr Pettigrew had apparently been hiding.

Under extensive questioning by the Ministry's Auror Squad, and on the understanding that any potential sentence be commuted from the Dementors Kiss to life imprisonment in Azkaban, Mr Pettigrew confessed to being a member of the Death Eaters, You-Know-Who's personal army of Dark wizards, and of performing the Cruentus curse - a variation on the Cruciatus curse - which resulted in the explosion that killed twelve innocent Muggles. In addition, Pettigrew also confessed to being James and Lily Potters' Secret Keeper, a position taken by him following the insistence of the Potters' much-maligned best friend, Sirius Black. As such, Pettigrew has been remanded into Ministry custody until the trial that is due to begin on 30^th August this year.

Interviewed yesterday, Mr Malfoy said how disappointed he was in the Ministry's previous handling of the entire incident, but that he understood the extreme pressure the institution had been under during the war years. The Ministry now has the opportunity to see that justice is restored, but Mr Malfoy declined to comment on the rumour that he knows where Black is hiding or whether he thought it likely that Black would be seeking compensation from the Ministry following this outrageous miscarriage of justice.

The article then proceeded to re-cover the Potters' death, Harry's escape, Sirius' imprisonment without trial and subsequent escape, but he didn't read any further. Instead of the euphoria he should have been feeling, he felt sick, as though someone had hit him hard right in the centre of his stomach.

'Wow, Sirius,' Ariadne gasped, still completely enthralled, oblivious to his growing disquiet. 'This is just too good to be true, isn't it?'

'Isn't it just,' Sirius said darkly, pushing the covers aside as he got up and reached for his robe.

Ariadne let the newspaper just crumple into her lap as she watched him. 'Sirius? Is everything all right? I thought you'd be pleased.'

'I am,' he reassured her as best he could with his stomach churning. 'It's great news.'

'So why do you look as though someone's just told you that they've cancelled the entire Quidditch season?'

'Do I?' He laughed as he pulled on his trousers before buttoning his robes. 'I don't mean to. I'm sorry. I'm just a bit worried, that's all. It's going to be a big day for me, isn't it?'

'Well, what's left of it, I suppose.'

'Nerves, that's all it is. I'll be fine,' he muttered dismissively, then changed the subject abruptly, hoping to catch her off guard. 'Listen, I've been meaning to ask you, you couldn't bake one of those sponge-cakes you made the other day for Harry, could you? Only it's his birthday on Friday...'

'What, now?'

'Yeah...I'm sorry, sweetheart...I know it's short notice, but I was going to send him an owl this afternoon anyway to let him know that I'm okay, ask him how he's doing, wish him Happy Birthday...seeing as how I can't be with him in person...I just thought it would be nice because I haven't been able to get him anything...and I thought that James and Lily would have liked it...'

'Yes...yes of course I will, Sirius. I understand, you haven't got to explain,' she said gently, 'I'll put it into bake then I'll start gathering us some things together so we can be ready to leave this evening when it turns dark.'

'Yeah...that's a good idea. Less likely to be seen. And thanks, Ari,' he smiled gratefully, 'I'm sure Harry will appreciate it. You wouldn't want a hand, would you?'

'Oh Morgana and Merlin, no!' she exclaimed, probably remembering the time when she had spent two hours cleaning an exploded soufflé off the ceiling of the flat they had shared so briefly so long ago. 'You and my kitchen can stay as far away from each other is possible!'

Sirius chuckled. 'Great. I was hoping you'd say that. I'll get the letter written, then I'll go give Buckbeak a brush down before we leave.'

'All right, sweetheart. I'll give you a shout when it's ready.'

Sirius pushed his hand through his hair and smiled with every bit of confidence he could muster as he opened the door. The upcoming trip still weighed heavily on his mind, even though his diversionary tactics seemed to have worked on Ariadne. 'Great, okay,' he said, not waiting to hear her reply because he could already feel the nerves beginning to win the battle as his smile slipped and the knot moved from his stomach to the base of his throat.

* * *

They left Buckbeak in the Forbidden Forest. Although Ariadne hadn't seemed happy with the idea of attaching his harness to the trunk of one of the larger trees, Sirius hadn't wanted to risk him running off after a ferret or something and being caught. His markings would have had been registered by the Ministry by now so if someone were to see him, the consequences didn't bear thinking about. After much protesting and pulling at the harness on Buckbeak's part, he eventually calmed down with a little soothing from Ariadne - and a pile of dead chickens - to keep him happy. They left him settled onto a pile of leaf litter, his eyes already half closed, as they crossed the lake by boat.

It didn't take long - the weather was calm, the lake serene and a gentle wind helped the Locomotor charm Sirius had cast to move the boat across the water. When they landed, he helped Ariadne onto the shore and stood there, gazing up at the imposing façade of Hogwarts castle. The last time he had stood on the banks of the lake like this, he had still been wanted. He had imagined how it would feel to be entering the castle again as a free man, but in all of his dreams he had never considered the dreadful, nauseating fear that would be accompanying him.

He wasn't sure that telling Snape everything was the best course of action they might take - no matter what Malfoy might have told The Prophet. He knew that Snape had never liked him anyway, innocent or not, and he dreaded to think of the reaction he was going to get. Not so much for his own sake - after all he was perfectly capable of dealing with Snivellus himself - but for Ariadne's. He could tell by the way she was gripping his hand and the uncharacteristic silence with which she walked by his side as they crossed the bridge leading up to the castle gates that she felt far more apprehension about seeing her brother again after so long than he did.

'Dumbledore's not expecting us, is he?' she asked, after Sirius had banged heavily on the ornate wooden door as they waited for a reply.

'I'm sure he saw us coming,' he replied ruefully. 'He doesn't miss much.'

Ariadne nodded nervously.

Some scrapes, knocks and bangs accompanied the slow drawing back of the bolts on the other side of the door and eventually it opened, Filch's wizened old face appearing in the gap.

'Well, well, well...Sirius Black,' he spat distastefully. 'Always knew you were trouble, lad. Right from the moment you set foot in here. Was right too, wasn't I? Do you know how long it took me to fix the Fat Lady's portrait after you did that hatchet job on it?'

'It's good to see you again too, Mr Filch,' Sirius grinned back pleasantly. 'I wondered if it's possible for us to see Professor Dumbledore please?'

'If it were down to me, lad, I'd not have you anywhere near this castle. I don't care what The Prophet says, you haven't been tried yet, have you? Dangerous, you are. Always were.'

'Mr Filch, I didn't ask for your approval or your opinion. Believe me, if I wanted to kill you, I'd have done it already. Now are you going to let us in or do I have to hex you?'

Filch muttered something under his breath as he picked up Mrs Norris, tucked the cat beneath his arm and stood aside for Sirius and Ariadne to enter.

'I really hope you don't use that sort of language around the students,' said Sirius as he barged past him, his hand still clasped firmly around Ariadne's, pulling her towards the grand staircase in the entrance hall, 'I think we can find our way up.'

They left Filch closing the door behind them, still muttering things that would have curled most people's toes - if he hadn't been a Squib and unable to do so much as produce a spark.

Sirius had never been inside Hogwarts during the summer holidays before. Although his little gang had often remained there during the Christmas and Easter breaks when they'd been in school, none of them had ever wanted to stay over the long August hiatus. The place felt so very empty and cold without the bustle, noise and life provided by the presence of the students, teachers and even the ghosts - evidently they disappeared to haunt old friends and relatives during the break too. The silence was eerie, broken only by the occasional whistling of the wind through the gaps and holes in the masonry and the regular clacking of their feet on the marble floor as they made their way up the main staircase towards the third floor where Dumbledore's office was housed.

'You okay sweetheart?' Sirius asked as they finally arrived at the base of the secret spiral staircase leading up to the office. 'You've been very quiet.'

'I don't know,' she shrugged apologetically. 'It's been such a long time...I feel a bit intimidated, to be honest. Professor Dumbledore didn't believe you or me all those years ago and this will be the first time I've seen him since then. I'm more afraid of him and what he'll think than I was of Malfoy.'

Sirius smiled reassuringly and put his arm around her. 'Everyone's a little afraid of Dumbledore. He's a good man though, Ariadne. Not to mention an extremely powerful wizard - he must be to make even Voldemort think twice. You don't have anything to fear.'

She nodded, yielding to his embrace. 'I'll be all right. Don't worry about me. How are we going to get it though? Don't we need a password or something?'

Sirius was about to tell her that Dumbledore usually knew who was here to see him when the huge stone gargoyle that marked the entrance suddenly slid aside, revealing a spiral staircase that led up to the office.

'Apparently not,' she answered her own question with a nervous giggle and her fingers tightened around his as he led the way upstairs.

Dumbledore's office looked very much as it had when they'd been students. Apart from a slightly thicker layer of dust and a few more piles of parchments and books in various places around the circular room, it was largely as it always had been. There was a comforting reassurance about that, Sirius thought. It was nice to know that over the past thirteen years, when so much had changed, that some things had still stayed the same. Right down to the gently snoring portrait of his great-great-grandfather, Phineas Nigellus.

'Ah, you've arrived safely,' said an old, calm, croaky sort of voice from the upper stage of the office.

Both Sirius and Ariadne started and turned to see Dumbledore descending the ornate iron staircase from the upper level of his office-cum-library.

'Professor Dumbledore...sir...thank you for seeing us unannounced like this,' said Sirius, pulling off his leather gloves, 'I know how busy you are.'

Dumbledore smiled warmly as he sat down behind him desk. He waved his hand and two chintz armchairs appeared opposite him. 'It is quite all right, I assure you, Sirius. Please, both of you, sit. I should congratulate you on your recent extraordinary good fortune with regards to locating Peter. I have never known the Ministry to move with such efficiency as they did with you acquittal.'

Sirius was finding it very hard to look Dumbledore in the eye. He swallowed thickly at his accusatory tone and the familiar flutterings were beginning again in his stomach as he and Ariadne sat down.

'Well, that's what we've come to see you about, sir. You remember Ariadne?'

'Of course,' he replied, offering her the same warm smile. 'It was most unfortunate that the Ministry saw fit to relieve you of your post, Ariadne. I am not too big a man to acknowledge that I, like the Ministry, was wrong in my judgement of you and Sirius and I feel that an apology is in order. You and your brother were two of the most promising potions students this school has ever seen. It is very good to see you again after so long.'

'Thank you, sir,' she murmured. Not good memories for her; written so clearly in the pain in her eyes.

'With some luck, Professor, we're hoping that Ariadne will be able to get her position back. If what we're doing at the moment works out for us.'

'Oh? And what are you doing, Sirius?' There was no malice or criticism implied in his tone now; merely mild concern and curiosity that made his clear blue eyes sparkle as though he were still seventeen.

'Well,' he started, but the words seemed to be harder to find now that he had to explain himself to someone whom he knew would disapprove. 'When I left here, I had nowhere to go. I'd already spent a year on the run and I was tired of constantly being on edge, jumping at whispers...the weather was worsening and I was...well... I just thought that the safest place I could go, and still remain as close as possible to Harry, was Ariadne's.'

Sirius proceeded to tell Dumbledore everything - how he had been staying with Ariadne, what they had decided to do, about the meetings and now, what they had been asked to do. Dumbledore sat and listened patiently, but his bushy grey eyebrows seemed to knit together even further with each word that passed Sirius' lips until, in the end, the frown was unmistakable.

'The reason we're telling you all this, Professor, is to kept you informed of the motives behind our actions because we know that you are the one person who is in a position to be able to give this information to the Ministry's Auror Division. There is a man there - Elliot Seaworthy - I worked with him years ago before James and Lily were...' He paused, swallowing thickly. 'During the first war...in covert operations. He was one of the very few people who believed my story when I was arrested, but it would have cost him his job and, because of his position, quite likely his life too if he'd spoken out. If you tell him, I know he can give us the buffer space we need.'

'You should have told me of this before, Sirius,' Dumbledore said gravely. 'I think that you are very much aware of the rumours that are currently in circulation regarding the speed with which you have been cleared, are you not?'

Sirius' stomach turned over and he tasted his breakfast at the back of his throat. Much of the worry he had been bearing on his shoulders over the past few days had been due to exactly that - how quickly everything seemed to have come together for him - and it didn't make him feel any better to know that other wizards had noticed that too.

'I am, sir,' he said, 'and I know I should have come to you sooner, but I have done this type of thing before and I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself. I realise that my timing could have been better, but with the new war coming so quickly, and Harry's life being jeopardised so much already, I can't afford to just hide away and wait for things to happen. That's not the way I do things, Professor.'

'No,' Dumbledore smiled affectionately, 'neither you nor James were ever known for your patience or reserve. I understand the pressure you have been under to act, but it was foolish to take on forces that I seriously believe both of you are underestimating. Harry has always been perfectly safe under my care - and under the Dursley's, no matter what Harry might have told you about that. Lucius Malfoy is much wiser than you give him credit for, Sirius, and it would be a mistake to think that he is unaware of what you are doing. In fact, it is precisely because he is aware of your motives that he has asked you to do such a dreadful thing.'

'He knows?' said Ariadne desperately, turning to Sirius. 'But you told me that there's no way that he would suspect...not if we did everything asked of us...'

'Why do you think I challenged him? He would have been far more suspicious of me had I just sat back and remained quiet - he knows as well as you do that 'passive' is not a word in my vocabulary, Ari. I knew that this was likely to happen, as I tried to tell you, but you wouldn't listen, sweetheart.'

Tears sparkled in her eyes, but there was no danger of them falling in front of Dumbledore. She wasn't angry with either of them, or even with herself. There was more a slow realisation dawning in her eyes of how deeply she truly was embroiled now and there was such a desperate terror in her eyes that Sirius wanted nothing more in that moment than to grab her hand and run, to take her far away from all this and never, ever look back.

'So...so this is my fault?'

'No, Ariadne,' Dumbledore replied kindly, 'it is not. Those of us who remember the first war know that Voldemort's true power lay not in the strength of his magic, but in his ability to cause doubt, fear and suspicion among friends. Without trust, we are unable to fight him and he knows this, as does Malfoy and his kind. Sirius is aware of all this too and I sincerely believe that he has done everything within his power to protect you, just as I have tried to protect Harry. Sometimes, loving someone is the hardest thing in the world to do, Ariadne. It asks us to give the people we care about the freedom to make their own choices. And their own mistakes. We can only do so much before we have to let them go. Sirius knew how badly you wanted to make things right and he believed that he had the capability of facing whatever might have resulted from your actions, but I doubt that even he had anticipated the complications caused by this little thing that hampers us all from time to time - love.'

Ariadne's gaze fell to her fingers, clasped tightly in her lap. Sirius wanted to take her hand or squeeze her shoulder or something to let her know that he understood, but he knew that in that moment, she needed to be alone.

Dumdledore stood up from his huge leather chair and walked slowly over to where Fawkes, his phoenix, was perched on a gold stand. Gently, he started stroking the bird beneath its beak, smiling as it raised its head and made cooing noises.

'The fact that Pettigrew has been caught and made a confession runs greatly in your favour, Sirius,' Dumbledore continued in his slow, calm, almost hypnotic voice. 'That may prove to be Malfoy's mistake. No matter what he may try to tell the Ministry now, they finally have evidence that you were innocent of the crimes for which you were imprisoned. I believe that I can do as you have asked and speak to Mr Seaworthy on your behalf, which should alleviate the concern of your actions being misunderstood.'

'Thank you, sir,' Sirius gushed in pure relief, 'thank you so much.'

'However,' Dumbledore cut in quickly, holding up his hand to silence him, 'I am afraid that a solution to your other problem may prove to be more elusive. How to convince Malfoy that you have carried out his order... Has he asked you for some kind of proof? Or does Malfoy want to see Professor Snape alive?'

'He wants him alive. The Death Eaters had their own...methods, you understand...they liked to have space and time to...well, you know...' He trailed off with an anxious sideways glance at Ariadne. 'They had refined their craft into an art-form by the time I was sent to Azkaban,' said Sirius.

Ariadne made a strangled, low kind of moan in the back of her throat as her fingers started repetitive, nervous dance again in her lap. Sirius reached over and covered them with his hand, stilling them with a gentle, supportive squeeze.

'The problem, of course, lies not in satisfying Malfoy that you have done as he has asked, but how to stop him from asking you to do such things in the future. I find it of grave concern that the Death Eaters have already progressed to a stage where they feel comfortable in organising targets for elimination. Voldemort must be gaining strength.'

'I agree, Professor, which is why the intelligence Ariadne and I could bring back to the Ministry is so important. We need their backing, but more than anything we need time, and we can't have that under the conditions that Malfoy has imposed.'

'No, of course. You say that they would prefer him taken alive, but would they accept him in death?'

'No!' Ariadne squealed as though she'd just been hit with an Incido curse. 'Dear god!'

'Calm yourself, Ariadne,' Dumbledore said soothingly, 'I do not mean for your brother to be harmed in any way. If they will accept his body as proof that the deed has been done, even if not in the manner that they would have preferred, then there may be something that we can do that would not only save him, but prevent them from seeking him in the future.'

'How?' she asked, so tentatively that Sirius barely heard her.

'You have heard of the Draught of Living Death, have you not, Ariadne?'

Dumbledore left Fawkes and sat back down behind his desk.

'Yes,' she replied cautiously, 'it is an extremely complicated potion to make, requiring several very rare ingredients, some of which are, or used to be, illegal. The wormwood and asphodel are easy enough to lay your hands on, but some of the others...not to mention that some of those who have taken it when improperly prepared enter a sleep so deep that they never wake up. The herbs can be toxic in the wrong doses.'

'But if anyone is capable of brewing it, you are, Ariadne,' Dumbledore smiled triumphantly, his watery blue eyes shining like the ocean at sunrise. 'As is your brother. Perhaps, it is time to discuss the matter with him.'

For the first time since they had entered the office, Ariadne looked up, a fragile smile touching the corners of her mouth. 'Severus is here? He didn't go home for the summer?'

'He is still here for the moment, but he intends, I believe, to spend the majority of the summer at home. He does not usually reveal much of his plans to me. Severus is a man who greatly values his privacy and solitude.'

'Good to know some things never change,' Sirius quipped under his breath.

Ariadne didn't hear him or if she did, she was ignoring him. 'Is he in the dungeon?'

Dumbledore bowed his head slightly. 'You are welcome to go down if you wish to see him.'

'Oh...well...I don't know if he would want to see me,' Ariadne said quickly. 'Maybe I should wait...'

'There is no time like the present and we never know just how much of the present may be left, Ariadne,' Dumbledore chided gently. 'Go.'

She sighed, glancing at Sirius.

'No, you go ahead,' he replied to her unuttered question, 'I think you'd be better off without me hanging around, cluttering up his nice, clean, sterile little...'

'Sirius...' Dumbledore warned.

'Sorry,' he mumbled, 'force of habit. Go on, sweetheart.'

Sirius stood up with her, squeezing her hand. 'You'll be fine,' he whispered as he leaned in close to kiss her cheek. 'You know where I am if you need me.'

She nodded, brushing her fingers tenderly along the side of his face, reluctant to go alone.

'We will give you some time and follow you down later. We will need to discuss the arrangements,' said Dumbledore.

'Thank you, Professor,' she smiled, casting one more glance at Sirius as though begging for him to relieve her of the ordeal of facing her brother, but he knew that this was something she needed to do on her own.

'She's been through so much already,' Sirius sighed after she had left, 'I hope he's not going to make things even more difficult for her.'

'Severus has always gone his own way. He has suffered too, in his turn, although you will never hear him admit to it. I believe that he would benefit from knowing his sister again as much as she would benefit from knowing him. She will need your support, Sirius.'

'She's got it. She's always had it. I just wish that I could have been around more for her these past few years. So much of what's happened with her family I feel is my fault...I've let so many people down...' He shrugged and sighed, forcing a smile as he looked up. 'Listen to me, feeling sorry for myself. I'm sorry, sir.'

'It is perfectly all right,' Dumbledore smiled understandingly. 'Under the circumstances, we will forgive you a little self-pity. But I do think a short break might be in order. How would you like to take a stroll around the castle? Revisit some old stomping grounds?'

Sirius smiled gratefully. 'That would be good. Thank you.'