Till Life Do Us Part

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Thank you, saiyanwizardgurl from www.fanfiction.net, for this edited version of the first chapter.

Chapter 1

"Merlin, Muggles do know what real art means," Sirius whispered in his wife's ear.

Angela only smiled. She had always loved theatre and shortly after their marriage, Sirius had become quite fond of it, too. They were both glad that they had come here this evening. On stage was the production Hamlet, and Angela had always admired Shakespeare's plays. Merlin knew that they both needed a little entertainment in the middle of this war.

She threw a secret look at her Muggle watch. The babysitter had promised that she would stay until morning and Angela had full trust in Dorcas Meadows' ability to defend herself and Caine against any intruders. Not that it was likely to happen, not with all those wards on the flat, but Angela still could not get rid of the slight concern at leaving Caine alone with her friend.

Sirius smiled at her and she returned the smile, determined to conceal her worry from him. It was the first time they were alone together, enjoying each other's company, in months. Maybe, the young woman thought, he's beginning to get rid of his obsession with James and Lily and is starting to pay attention to us - Caine and me. She smiled again and gave his hand a squeeze.

After the play was over, Sirius took her to a Muggle restaurant where she immediately started talking excitedly about Shakespeare, Ophelia, and Keats. Sirius listened to her chatter and wondered why he had forgotten how much he enjoyed her enthusiasm about books and theatre. Too preoccupied with the Order and keeping James, Lily, and Harry safe, he had been neglecting her for months. Well, this evening will be a great start to rebuilding our relationship, he thought. He was happy that he had had this wonderful idea of taking Angela out, happy with her very presence, happy with her dark beauty. When they entered the restaurant and half of the men presents turned their heads after her, Sirius felt a surge of idiotic pride that one feels when he has something beautiful and outstanding.

"Next time, I'm taking you to a fun-fair," he announced, when they were eating their dessert.

Her eyes lit up and she laughed. "So, there's going to be a next time?" she asked.

Sirius nodded energetically. "It's going to be either a fun-fair or a rock-concert," he said.

"I hate rock," Angela reminded him, and he grinned in response.

"I know, but you love me, so you're going to come anyway, right?"

She pretended to contemplate the matter. "Well, it's either that or fighting Death Eaters," she finally said, "so I suppose - we could come here again, couldn't we?"

Sirius stared at her. "Death Eaters?" he asked. "What Death Eaters? I don't know any such fellows. And besides, we aren't here."

It was impossible not to smile. "Where are we?" Angela asked.

"On the moon," he answered seriously. "Or maybe on a waste island. Just you and me, and the palms, and the sea - "

"And your constant hunger, and muddy dog fur," she interrupted him, and he put a pathetically affronted expression on his face.

"I am not muddy!" he said, and she patted his head just like she would have done if he had been in his dog form. They exchanged the umpteenth smile for that evening, and then Sirius blocked Angela's attempt to steal his dessert. "It's mine!"

They were both attractive, young, and, for this evening, in good spirits, so they won all hearts in the restaurant and one of the patrons really came to their table and said, "Good evening, madame."

They both jumped and reached for their wands but calmed down almost immediately when they saw the person who had talked to them: a young man their age, silver-haired and blue-eyed, whose incredible handsomeness was spoiled only by the deep red mark on his cheek. Angela smiled in welcome. "Hello," she said, "let me introduce you. Alain, this is my husband, Sirius Black. Sirius, this is Alain Montresorre. He works with me for the Order."

"Nice to meet you," Sirius said politely, though he disliked the Frenchman from the first moment. A man should look like a man and not a fashion-monger, after all! Angela, on the other side, felt slightly amused, knowing exactly what her husband thought. She had to admit that Alain's bright yellow robe and bowler-hat with golden plating were quite memorable. She knew that this look of a fool was very useful when gathering and passing information - people could not feel like keeping their eyes open with a man who obviously lacked the brains to even dress in a proper manner. Angela could only assume that he'd been on a mission. She felt forced to invite him to take place on the table and told herself that she was being stupid. There was no reason to keep the two men away from each other. Alain had been her boyfriend when she had spent her fifth year at Beauxbatons on exchange program and nothing more. Everything between them had ended with her return to Hogwarts. If sometimes Alain looked at her with a strange, longing look, when they talked about Voldemort's plans, it was no concern of hers; if he was always ready to do her a favor without questioning her, it still meant nothing. There was no reason to feel uncomfortable.

Or so she thought. Unfortunately, Alain had other plans. He started showering her with pretentious compliments, laughing shrilly, talking about fashion and so on. Sirius looked irritated and obviously couldn't wait to get rid of the intruder. With growing anger, Angela realized that Alain had felt Sirius' resentment to him and that it greatly amused him. He had thrown himself vigorously into his role of a complete fool. She had often seen him doing that back in Beauxbatons, just for good measure, and was enraged that he was doing it now. What was he trying to do? Spoil her evening with her husband? If that was the case, he was doing a great job.

Suddenly, outside the restaurant, next to their window, a huge yellow light blazed up. All three of them jumped from their seats and along with other patrons, hurried outside to see what was going on. The first warning cries grew into resounding roar when a curtain of fire almost reached the dark sky. The tube station was in flames. "It's a fire!" Angela cried.

"No! No, look at this!" Alain was pointing at something above their heads, reaching for his wand. Sirius looked at him, surprised at the deep voice that had come out of the Frenchman's mouth, instead of his earlier shrilly speech. He recognized the mark immediately.

"Death Eaters!" he cried, pulling his wand out.

"We have to split up and search for them," Angela suggested, wand in hand.

"No!" Alain objected. "We have to stay together; if there are any Death Eaters here, there will be many of them and they'll get the better of us easily if we are apart. Together, we have a better chance and besides, I don't think there are any of them left. They did what they wanted," he added bitterly as the fire spread around with amazing speed.

He turned out to be right: there were no Death Eaters around. After helping the firemen get the fire under control the best they could, the two men led Angela through the crowd, searching for a safe place from where they could Disapparate without attracting any attention. From each side, they were jostled by men, women, and children of all ages and sizes, panicked, horrified. Next morning, there would be some poor explanation about defects and failures in the tube that had caused the tragedy with so many injured and dead people. The ambulances were already carrying the corpses out of the station. None of the three people who really knew what had happened said a word, for there was nothing to be said. Voldemort had to be stopped, before those 'accidents' became daily occurrences....

"I hate them!" Angela suddenly exclaimed; the two men looked at her, silently agreeing.

"In France," Alain slowly started, "this sort of thing is usually followed by a massive attack on wizards. You'd better be careful - "

Sirius stopped and looked at him with narrowed eyes. "You may have a point there," he said at once. "Come on, hurry up."

"We are doing our best, Sirius," Angela said. "We are trying. After a couple of minutes it will be safe to Apparate - as soon as we reach the alley - "

"Try harder!" Sirius told her sharply. "A couple of minutes is a long time. I have to be sure that nothing has happened to James and Lily! If your friend is right, an attack in their refuge is a real possibility."

James and Lily! Angela barely kept herself from shouting their names in anger. Sirius' devotion to their friends had started to give her the blues. If someone was in danger, it was Caine, alone in their flat with Dorcas and not James and Lily, whose hiding place was still a secret to the Death Eaters.

"Well, I'm trying," she said in response to Sirius' prompting.

In his eagerness to smooth the way for Angela, Sirius went forward. Suddenly, the crowd started moving to pave the road for the ambulances, and Sirius disappeared from her sight.

Alain was trying in vain to break the ring of human bodies that was squeezing them. Despite his efforts, the crowd dragged along both of them. Angela squeezed his hand for support, but also because she was afraid that they would lose each other in the crowd. It was impossible to pull their wands out; all they could do was try to stay together and move toward a less crowded place without being crushed by the people. Alain squeezed Angela's hand more firmly. "Don't be afraid," he said. "Stay calm. I will protect you."

"I am not afraid," Angela answered and he laughed.

"If I were you, I would have been afraid. In fact, both of us should be terrified in the current situation - smashed here and unable to use our wands." He threw an arm around her shoulders to keep her close. His laughter died when she suddenly said, "Oh, Merlin, Sirius probably thinks that I am in danger."

"Your husband's concern did not keep him here for long," Alain said emphatically five minutes later when they reached the first place where they could Disapparate. "It seems to me that your Sirius has gone home without you."

Angela knew that if Sirius really had gone home, he would have waited for her. He hasn't gone home to Caine, he's gone to check on James and Lily!

Alain saw the growing anger in her eyes and said more softly, "After all, he couldn't have known when we'd be able to come here, Angela."

"That's no excuse!" she cried. Her pain and anger prevented her from hiding her feelings. "How can Sirius be so - so indifferent - so rude!"

"He probably thought he would find you safe at home," Alain said, trying to find any sort of excuse for Sirius' behavior, just to calm her down.

"Oh, stop it!" Angela interrupted him. "Sirius knows perfectly well that the crowd may separate us, you and me, just like it separated us from him. To cap it all, he thinks that you are nothing more than an empty-headed toff, he's sure of that."

"So he thinks you're in no moral danger, while you're with me," Alain said. "Although I must say, he looked manful enough to protect you on his own."

Angela looked in his deep blue eyes and her chin trembled. "Did he, really? Then, I'll make him sorry for that conviction," she said firmly. Before Alain knew what she meant, she stood on tiptoe and kissed him passionately on the lips.

If her kiss hadn't been so long and burning, Alain would have it in him to resist it. But without her knowing it - or maybe without her caring about that - he had fallen in love with her for the last months when they've been working together and spending hours in each other's company on a daily basis. He could say that she was not a happy woman - not happy in her marriage, at least, even though she never discussed it with him. It was easy to guess - she was always alone. She came alone to their meetings, she left alone - not once had her husband come to collect her. Alain had met her in the street a few times and she was alone there, too - or with her son. He knew that she did not feel about him the way he felt about her. For her, everything between them had ended when she had left France all those years ago. She had met Sirius Black. But that did not change his love for her. Merlin, it was so stupid - after six years, to fall in love with his school crush. He could have any other woman. He was young, attractive, rich - every woman would be happy to have him.

Every woman. Except for her. And she was the only one he wanted.

Each passer-by could recognize them under the street lights, because next to them, wizards and witches had started to Apparate to see the Dark Mark with their own eyes and help with whatever they could. Alain wrapped his arms around Angela's waist and returned the kiss. Angela tried to listen to her conscience but all she could hear was Sirius talking about James and Lily, and Harry, and James, and Lily, and Harry, and nothing else; accusing her of being close with the traitor who endangered them - their friend Remus; neglecting Caine, being short on him, leaving her alone to deal with her Order work, the flat, the kid, her own job, leaving her alone in the crowd this evening not because he feared for their son, but because he was worried about James and Lily. Her memories of the time before Sirius were coming to her with violent, wild persistence. Alain covered her face with kisses, pressing her harder and harder against himself.

"You're my, my wife!" he whispered. "I love you, Angela. You are meant for me."

He pulled back, only to look deep in her eyes. Only then, she was able to stop him, as well as herself. "No, Alain, no!" she said. "I'm not your wife and I never will be. I am Sirius' wife! I'll never be yours again!"

She Apparated away without any other words. Alain only smiled. "We'll see," he said, touching his lips. "If your Sirius keeps behaving like this, you'll come to me again. And again. And one day you will stay with me. Merlin help me, I know it."

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A.N. Read? Yes. Reviewed? Please!