Three O'clock in the Morning

Three O'clock in the Morning

In the real dark night of the soul, it is always three o'clock in the morning. - F. Scott Fitzgerald

That Just Ain't So

It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so. - Mark Twain

"Is he even coming at all?" Sasha asked peevishly, throwing her chestnut hair over her shoulder.

Sirius emitted a low growl. "I told you he wasn't expecting to have to show up here today. He has a busy schedule. He'll be here in fifteen minutes. If you want something to do, turn the television on or read a book."

Sasha bit her lip. She was annoyed with Sirius's attitude. It was better than when he acted paranoid and slightly mad, but it seemed that, at the moment, he was more frustrated with her and the entire situation than he cared to admit. In short, Sasha felt that her brother-in-law was acting absolutely arrogant and superior. Normally, she would not have hesitated a moment to put him in his place, but now she did not know if she had a psychotic on her hands or not. Perhaps it would be best to wait for Dr. Snape to arrive, she thought.

Nervously she leafed through a magazine on the table, one that held no interest for her, and, though she read the articles, not one word stayed in her mind. If asked half an hour later, she would not have even been able to tell the inquirer the name of the magazine.

Sirius was in no better shape. He was a ball of wild nerves. Severus had not been pleased that he had made arrangements for Severus and Sasha to meet and had not hesitated to tell Sirius so. Sirius, personally knowing what spite could drive Snape (or himself, for that matter) to do, hoped and prayed that Severus would not feed Sasha's belief that Sirius was mad. He knew that he was walking a dangerous line, telling his sister-in-law about magic and about his world. A dangerous line, indeed, but he desperately needed someone in the family on his side. Sirius doubted that he would be able to get through Sunday dinner without someone's help and he certainly could not invite Severus to his mother's house.

So he read Harry's mythology book, the one his stepson had been reading last Friday, when everything went to Hell. He understood even less of it now than he had when he first read it, but Sirius did not care. It gave his hands something to do and reading made him appear less nervous to the adversary, in this case, Sasha Sullivan Black. He knew it was foolish, but he still thought of everyone in terms of Light and Dark, enemy and ally. Sirius consoled himself by claiming that it had barely been a week and he could not be expected to change his thought processes in so short a time.

There was a sharp knocking at the door. Only Severus could make both his impatience and utter distaste evident through banging on a piece of wood. Some things would never change.

When Sirius opened the door, Severus scowled at him. "Agreeing on a truce, Black, did not mean that I am at your beck and call, whenever and wherever you may need me."

Sirius' pale eyes flashed with an anger that had always and would always be reserved for Severus Snape. "I do not 'need' you, as you so delicately put it. My sister-in-law is in need of explanation and will not take my word. I was hoping you could help."

"Well, then," Severus spat. "Lead on."

Sasha quietly put down her magazine and smiled at the two men, obviously not the right thing to do. "That's a start, at least."

The raven-haired males stopped glaring at each other to stare at the woman in disbelief.

"What?" Sirius managed to ask.

"Lily said that you two were thick as thieves. That conversation alone tells me she was exaggerating, maybe as much as my husband. I would almost think I didn't need to be here."

"Almost?" asked Severus.

"If I had not had a certain conversation with Sirius last night, I would think that Lily and Regulus were merely overreacting to some changes in Sirius' personality. But that conversation..."

"What about that conversation, Mrs. Black?"

Sasha shook her head derisively. "Don't call me Mrs. Black here. Here I'm Sirius' sister-in-law, Sasha, not Thebe's mother."

Severus nodded. "Very well." Sirius noted that he did not invite Sasha to call him by his given name. "What is it about this conversation that disturbs you?"

"Magic. Sirius said he believes in magic, that he's a magician of some sort. I'm sorry if you believe him, but magic? Never."

Severus glared at Sirius over the top of Sasha's head. You will pay dearly for this, the look said. Sirius shrugged helplessly.

"He said he gave you pink hair," Sasha added helpfully.

"No," Severus replied hastily. "Not again. I do not want pink hair again." Unconsciously, he began rubbing his greasy, black hair as if to ensure its safety from the power of Sirius' wand.

Sasha raised her eyebrows, obviously concerned with the good doctor's behavior. She certainly did not believe in magic, but apparently her daughter's counselor did.

Sirius paused for a moment in thought. "Would you like to see my wand?"

Sasha looked appalled and Severus shocked before Sirius realized the innuendo. He had the good grace to blush. "Not like that," he immediately explained. "My magic wand..."

The trio blushed again.

"Oh, for Circe's sweet sake," Sirius muttered. "Are we all teenagers again?"

He swiftly padded off to the bedroom and retrieved his wand. It was not actually his wand; his wand had been snapped in two when he had been given his sentence. It was symbolic of his isolation from the magical world, saying all too clearly: 'Even if you can escape, we will never accept you again. Never.' Sirius shuddered. It had been hard, at first, to do magic with his borrowed wand.

Sirius suspected that Ollivander knew for whom this wand - thirteen inches, silver birch, and dragon heartstring - was meant. The old man was almost as bad as Albus when it came to being omniscient, simply with wands in this case, rather than a school. Nevertheless, Sirius was grateful to have his wand; even if he had not picked it out himself it was reasonably suited to his abilities. Not perfect - but what in this world was perfect?

Once he returned to the living room/dining room, he hesitantly handed his wand to his sister-in-law. "Here," Sirius said awkwardly.

Sasha looked at it for moment and poked it; she tapped the couch. "Abra Cadabra."

Sirius jumped and looked murderous. He snatched it out of her hands. "Don't you dare!"

"What?" Her hazel eyes were wide with shock.

Severus frowned at his companion. What on Earth was going on? "Sirius, do you care explaining that?"

The pale man, who was an inch from hyperventilating, stared at his ally with his ice colored, haunted eyes. "She-she-"

"She said 'Abra Cadabra,' Sirius."

Sirius nodded fervently, as if that explained everything.

Severus felt that the man may indeed have been a case for a psychiatric hospital.

"What's so terrible, Siri?" Sasha asked quietly.

He dropped his wand and fell into his favorite armchair. "Abra Cadabra," he whispered, looking severely pained.

"What's wrong with those words?"

Sirius bit his lower lip. "Do you know what a curse is? Angry appeals for misfortune, my instructors used to call them. Aveda Kedavra. The destruction of life. It's the Killing Curse."

"Words can kill? If you say them with a wand, I mean?" His sister-in-law seemed worried.

"You couldn't do it... No, it isn't just words. You need the power, the magic, and the hate, all of it behind the words. You need to want your victim to die. But you need the words. Without the words, all you have is hatred and that gets you nowhere."

The trio sat in silence for a short while. Severus examined the wand as if it were a very rare and very poisonous spider, the wand's silver wood catching the light of the afternoon sun. Sasha stared at Sirius and Sirius stared out the window.

"D-did my brother..." Sasha trailed off. "Do you believe that my brother killed someone like that? Is that why he was executed?"

"No," Sirius replied, his lips a thin line. "He didn't get the chance to... I told you last night that he went mad after all of you died. He was given custody of a family going into hiding. Everyone assumed that he would be loyal to the Light after the massacre. He wasn't. Sullivan betrayed the family. If he hadn't been caught, he would have been given my fate: life in prison. It was considered a gift to put him here. You should be happy Dumbledore caught him."

"Dumbledore?" Severus asked. "I know that name from somewhere."

Sirius frowned at the greasy haired man. "Albus Dumbledore, he's the Headmaster of Hogwarts?"

Sasha shook her head. "No, Minerva McGonagall is the Headmistress of the school. She's getting ready to retire a few years, though. She's rather old for the job."

"McGonagall? Old for the job?" Sirius blinked. "She's only in her early sixties! I mean, Albus is at least one hundred and fifty and he's doing just fine!"

His sister-in-law and friend gaped at him.

He frowned. "Is that unusual?"

Severus finally found his tongue. "Sirius, people don't live that long. It's impossible."

"No, it's not. I suppose magic might have something to do with it, though."

"What do you mean 'might'?"

Sirius shrugged. "I've never spent much time with Muggles. Hell, I'd never met a non-magical person until James introduced us all to Lily's parents. For all I know, most people in my world live that long. I wouldn't know." He paused, frowning again. "Damn, I wish I paid more attention in Muggle studies."

Sasha looked understandably upset. Was he insane? Or was he telling the truth, that there was another world out there, one with magic? One where her family had been caught in the deadly crossfire of a mystical war?

"Why don't you show us something," Severus suggested, trying to understand the woman's plight.

"I suppose pink hair and purple corsets would be a bit inappropriate for the occasion?"

Severus nodded sharply. Sirius took his wand from Severus' hand.

"Flagrate," he said confidently. Sirius swiftly swung the silver rod into a swirl pattern, leaving traces of orange flame in its wake. It made a pretty pattern, the flame casting odd, jumping shadows across their faces. "Obblitero." The fire vanished as quickly as it appeared; making the room somehow suddenly colder and darker than it had been before the flames.

Sirius did not like the look on his sister-in-law's face. Obviously, she was remembering the incident at their last Sunday dinner. He smiled at her disarmingly, bowed, and proffered his wand. "Orchideous."

Sasha was shocked when the spray of bluebells and lupin appeared in Sirius hand, but she took them hesitantly.

"Don't worry, they won't bite."

She sniffed at them curiously, as if she expected poison. "Magic flowers, Sirius?"

"Only the best for you, madam."

Sasha smiled at Sirius with tears in her eyes. This new discovery brought her hope for her brother and his failing health.

"Now that the Black family has repaired itself, I assume it has no need for me?" Severus asked cuttingly.

"Actually, Dr. Snape," Sasha began. "I would like to ask a favor of you. Of you and Sirius, really."

The men turned to face the quiet woman whose voice sounded so desperate.

"Wolfgang - he's my brother, Severus, the one we were talking about - has been asking to see Sirius all week. He says he needs to see another comrade, to hear news from home. The doctors say that it might be best if we bring Sirius in."

"No," the wizard growled. "I won't see him. Not that traitor."

"Please, Siri. Please? He means so much to me, you don't understand. If it makes him better to see you..."

"No! He's a damned blood traitor! He betrayed us all and nearly gotten his charges killed! I don't care!"

Severus put a calming hand on Sirius' shoulder. "Why do you want me to go with you, Mrs. Black? Surely your brother does not pretend to know me."

Sasha shook her head. "No, but I was hoping you could calm Sirius down. You seem to have that effect on him."

The two men blinked at each other blankly before Sirius returned to his protests.

"Do you understand what it would mean for me to visit him, Sasha?" he asked. "It would be giving him my seal of approval, that he's good enough for me to visit him. I can't do that!"

"I never thought I'd say this, but you think too much, Sirius," Severus commented. "Not every action is so infused with meaning. At the moment, you are acting as moral support for your sister-in-law, not appreciating the traitorous actions of a virtually imprisoned miscreant."

Sirius shook his shaggy head again, but this time in defeat. "Very well. I will go - but only with both of you and my wand."