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

None But Madmen Know

There is a pleasure sure / In being mad, which none but madmen know - John Dryden

Sirius shifted uncomfortably in his seat, feeling sympathetic for Severus, who was crammed into the backseat of Sasha's small automobile. Sasha had warned them that they would be cramped, but now, an hour or so into the ride, Sirius realized he had not known into what he was getting himself. They had watched the sparse scenery of Scotland roll by and Sirius got over his excitement of riding in a car, and one driven by an experienced, licensed driver, at that. Soon his legs began to ache slightly from being kept in one position and he wished he could sleep, but there was no way his instincts would allow him to nod off in a moving vehicle with a person of unknown allegiances.

It had been a little less than a week since Sasha had agreed to speak with Sirius and Severus about the possibility of a magical world, a world from which both her brother and brother-in-law had been exiled. Sirius insisted that they visit Wolfgang Sullivan, blood traitor to the Light, this Saturday rather than next, because Harry was coming home from Hogwarts on Wednesday and Sirius wanted to be with his godson as much as possible. Severus agreed to come with them, a stipulation Sasha had insisted upon.

After what seemed like an eternity, Sasha pulled the car into a driveway marked "Greenwood Psychiatric Home." It turned out that Greenwood was more than just a 'home;' it was an entire complex of buildings, all quite modern and up-to-date. There were finely manicured lawns with a few flowerbeds of buttercups and daisies. A few of the patients, obviously more sound ones, walked on flagstone pathways with visitors, most likely their devoted family and friends. Some of the patients looked dazed, as if drugged, while others carried on animated conversations with their companions.

"In here," Sasha instructed, pointing at a stone building, as they left the car. "We have to sign in with the doctors and then find him. He's usually on the third floor."

As they walked into the building, Sirius wondered why on Earth he had agreed to come meet the crazed Death Eater. Surely they did not expect the two men to get along. Sirius remembered raging in the common room the day after Wolfgang had been captured, understanding that a member of the Light had turned traitor and not knowing how a man could betray everything he hoped for and believed. He had sworn to Prongs and Moony that the man deserved more than the Archway and Veil for punishment. Moony had tried to soothe him, telling him that he had not been hurt by the betrayal. But Moony did not understand that Sirius had given everything he could for the Light and to think of someone hurting his cause was an abomination.

Sirius was slightly shocked when the doctors insisted that they be searched before entering the hospital wing in which Wolfgang lived. He was infinitely grateful that Severus had insisted that he cast a Muggle- repelling charm on his wand at home, fear of Death Eaters be damned. It seemed that the men at the building entrance wanted to know everything that the trio had on their bodies - whether it seemed to be relevant to being in a psychiatric hospital or not. Sirius was forced to hand over the nail file he kept in his pocket, but otherwise the three mismatched companions were well prepared for their visit.

Sasha led them through the double doors and into an interesting mechanism called an elevator, while Sirius tried to remember all that he could about Wolfgang Sullivan. Truth be told, all he could recollect were the man's crimes and his names. The crimes of the blood traitors - to both the Dark and the Light - seemed to be indelibly etched into his mind. The betrayers of the Light, those pushed through the Veil and those who kept him company in Azkaban, haunted him for twelve long years. When he was not having nightmares about James and Lily or Peter or the time he nearly murdered Severus, Sirius remembered the people who betrayed his cause, for he had adopted the Light as his own when his mother disinherited him. He assumed that Wolfgang would look something like Sasha, but it was not uncommon in Pureblood families for two siblings to look quite different. Narcissa with her pale, icy beauty contrasted with her sister Bellatrix's nearly Mediterranean charm.

Sasha found a white, metal door like so many others that lined the hallway, and ushered them into the room. It was not as sterilized as Sirius had expected, coming from the security guards and the simply painted corridor. The room was small, with two beds, covered in pastel blankets, and two hard plastic chairs, which would have looked better at a Muggle beach resort, settled around a small metal table. Everything in the room had blunt edges and the walls were painted a particularly horrible shade of pastel amber. The furniture was upholstered in varying shades of mint and gold.

Two men were in the room when Sasha, Severus, and Sirius arrived. One was obviously the patient, Wolfgang, with his simple green and blue clothing. The Death Eater's fair hair was cut short in a way no Pureblood would ever have wanted, but his eyes, so much darker than his sister's, still held the glint of intelligence and magic. The other man was dressed in a nurse's white uniform and was trying to convince Wolfgang to visit the day room and participate in some social activities with the other patients. Sirius pitied the poor man; there was no way he could out-stubborn the Irish- German Pureblood, especially when it was to make a Death Eater interact with common Muggles.

The nurse rose when he saw them enter Wolfgang's room. "Sasha," he greeted. "It's good to see you; we weren't expecting you until tomorrow!"

Sasha smiled a half-smile, not showing her teeth. "Wolfgang has been asking after Sirius and this is one of the few times he could make it." She motioned to Sirius and Severus in turn. "This is my brother-in-law, Sirius Black, and his friend, Dr. Severus Snape."

The nurse shook their hands. "Nice to meet the both of you. I'll be in room 304 if you have any problems."

Wolfgang stretched luxuriously in his pale plastic chair, eying the newcomers curiously. "So, here is Sirius Black," the man drawled, his lilt matching Sasha's. "You finally realized that your family was right all along, did you?"

Sirius' hands were balled into fists. "Hardly," he spat at the mental patient.

"Really?" Wolfgang asked, obviously not believing the animagus' answer. "I don't suppose that you've deigned to tell your little friends why you and I are here?"

"Actually, he has."

Wolfgang's dark eyes flickered for a moment, resting on Severus' face. "Severus Snape?"

"That is my name."

"Forgive me if I claim disbelief," the Dark wizard replied. "My esteemed colleague here has a mean streak a mile wide and a highly specific hatred for you. The whole of Hogwarts knew that, even down to the caretaker and ickle first years. So, I doubt he told you the truth." Wolfgang's eyes flashed with amusement and not a little madness.

Severus eyed Sirius warily, the mental patient having planted seeds of doubt in his mind. "I have seen no reason to deny the veracity of Sirius' statements, yet."

Ignoring Severus' comments, as if beneath him, Wolfgang turned to Sasha. "And you, dear sister, what did young Black say to you?"

"He told me the same thing he told Dr. Snape. I... have been given reason to believe that Sirius is telling me the truth."

Wolfgang smiled conspiratorially at Sirius. "Given reason? My, my, have you been sneaky, Black? Taken a wand without permission?"

Sirius only snarled at him. Severus grabbed hold of his right arm, his wand arm, to prevent any physical damage.

"What? Are you mad at me, Black?"

"Blood-traitor!" Sirius managed to spit.

"Ah, yes, I suppose I am... But no one cares about that sort of thing, here. Only back home would I be reviled. Here... Here I am free," Wolfgang explained, spreading his arms wide.

"Free?" Sirius laughed bitterly. "You're mad!"

Anger replaced the amusement that had lain in Wolfgang's eyes as he watched his fellow wizard. "What?"

"You are mad. Look at this place. No self-respecting Muggle would live here - never mind a decent witch or wizard! This is nothing. Nothing!"

"You will take back your words, Black!" Wolfgang growled. The plastic cup of orange juice that sat on the table exploded in a splash of orange liquid.

Sirius' pale eyes fairly danced at having found old Sullivan's weakness. Baiting this wandless Death Eater was a good as baiting Snivellus. No, said a voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Moony, this is different. This man deserves it. "No. My words are true. You're mad and you deserve to be in this madhouse."

Wolfgang glared fiercely at Sirius.

"Can't control your magic anymore?" Sirius mocked.

"And you can?"

Sirius removed his wand from his pocket and twirled it between his fingers. "Chosen by Ollivander himself," he whispered, enjoying the way Wolfgang's eyes followed the wand, like a starving man watching a suckling pig. "Ollivander and Dumbledore chose this one for me - silver birch and dragon heartstring."

"Why didn't you choose it?" Wolfgang breathed, an addict waiting for his narcotic.

Sirius put the wand back into his pocket, breaking the brief spell of quiet tension. "That is not any of your business."

Then the Death Eater let out a long, low laugh that seemed to fill the small room with reverberating sound. "You are not as innocent as you would have my sister believe, then, are you, Black?"

If looks could kill, Wolfgang would have joined the portraits of the Blacks as a pile of small, cold ash. "They know my story well enough."

"Why don't you tell me your story, then? I wouldn't want anything to happen to my dear sister, now would I?"

"Your dear sister?" Sirius spat, angrily. "If you truly cared for Sasha, you wouldn't be here, still babbling that idiocy about purity of blood and power! You would have given it up."

"Given it up?" Wolfgang echoed incredulously. "Given it up? Black, you can't just give up magic! You know as well as I do that no wizard, however trained, can just give it up! It isn't a book or money - it's our lives!"

Sirius rolled his eyes unceremoniously.

"I haven't touched a wand in nearly two decades, and I still accidentally blow things up periodically. Look at that!" Wolfgang pointed to the shards of plastic that were floating in a puddle of orange juice. "I blew that up my juice because of a random emotion. Without wands, we are as helpless as children. We need to go back home, you and I. What about striking a deal? Whoever finds the Archway and Veil in this world takes the other with him?"

Sirius shook his head. "You should have thought about that before you betrayed the Wentworths. You sealed your own fate."

"And what about you, my innocent Black?" Wolfgang asked, his eyes dancing.

"I should have thought of it a long time ago," he replied evenly. "Before I refused the Potters, before I tried to kill my best friend, before I escaped Azkaban, before I went headlong into a battle in which I did not belong."

He's thought about this for a long time, Severus thought worriedly

Wolfgang laughed again. His laugh had the hint of madness, typical of a man who spent time in Azkaban, but not of one receiving treatment. "No one can escape Azkaban, fool!"

Sirius grinned wolfishly. "But I did."

Wolfgang shook his head pityingly. "And they call me mad. Really, you're a prime candidate to be my roommate, Black. I'm in need of one, you know."

Sirius' eyes flashed dangerously. Yet, before Sirius could do anything to Sasha's brother, the nurse returned to the room, his white uniform as clean and starched as before he left.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Black, Mr. Black, Dr. Snape. Visiting hours are over," the young man apologized. "Maybe you can come back tomorrow?"

Sasha was glaring daggers at her brother. "Maybe," she answered noncommittally.

Her brother burst out into wild cackles. "Just watch out for wild Sirius Black, eh, sister of mine? He's more dangerous than I've ever been. He'd feed you to the werewolves if you put your toe out of line!"

Severus and Sasha exchanged glances while Sirius silently counted to ten. Would his past crimes forever haunt him? He longed to hex the Death Eater into oblivion, but he could not, not with the nurse in the room. And it would probably be considered the height of rudeness to attack an unarmed lunatic from behind.

The nurse smiled grimly at them. "I'm sorry you came to visit on one of his bad days. He's usually not this bad. He hasn't talked about werewolves in months."

Sirius smiled back at the poor man and poured on the Black charm. "I'm afraid I might have riled him up a bit. He's been babbling about magic and stuff since we got here. Maybe I'm a bad influence on him."

The nurse shrugged and ushered them out of the room.

On the car ride back home, Sirius leaned against the glass of the window and watched the bleak countryside, now being pelted with rain. He thought darkly of his meeting with the strange, altogether foreign Death Eater. He could not understand the man's choices back in the seventies and he could not understand them now. He ruminated on the conversation they had.

"That's it!"

Sasha nearly swerved off the road and into an inconveniently place barn. "What is it, Sirius?"

"The Archway and the Veil! All I need to do is find it in this world!"

"Somehow," Snape said darkly, "I don't think it will be that easy."

"What do you mean?"

"Someone surely would have heard of a mystical portal that can carry you between worlds. Maybe it doesn't exist here."

"No," Sirius replied stubbornly. "It has to exist here. Or I wouldn't be here. It has to be a doorway of some kind. I just need to walk through it again. And then I can go home. And help Harry."