Till Life Do Us Part

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and my OCs!

Thank you, saiyanwizardgurl from www.fanfiction.net, for this improved version of my chapter.

Chapter 2

Two weeks later...

Lily's laughter was the last thing Sirius heard before Apparating away. Harry had just formed his first full sentence, and being James' son, it was, "The Snitch, Mummy, Harry wants the Snitch!" Of course! He could hardly wait to tell Angela about this. He walked the two cross-streets that led to his flat, climbed up the stairs and removed the wards.

One look at his wife's face was enough to tell him that the news would have to wait.

"Where were you, Sirius? You were supposed to come back two hours ago!"

Sirius did not want a quarrel, so he tried to look remorseful. "I'm sorry. I lost track of time."

"I had to cancel a meeting with an editor," Angela said and went on. "I couldn't take a four-year old on a business meeting that would last more than two hours."

"You never told me that you had a meeting."

"I made the appointment this afternoon because you said you would be back by five o'clock."

"How could I have known?" Sirius objected.

"Don't speak so loud! Caine is sleeping."

"So early?" Sirius asked, surprised. "It's barely seven!"

"I took him to the park and he ran and played so much that he's really knackered."

Sirius frowned. "I've already told you, I don't want the two of you to go to places like that alone. It's full of Muggles - what if some of the Death Eaters attack you? There won't be anyone who could help you."

Angela took a deep breath and tried to control the new wave of anger that filled her entire body. "And what do you suggest for me to do, Sirius? Do you think that it is possible for me to raise a lively four-year old within these walls? Do you think that I should keep our son a prisoner in his own home because of your fears?"

"I don't want you to take him to the park without me," Sirius repeated, and this time she did not bother to hide her anger.

"Yes, my Lord. As you wish, my Lord. Only, I am afraid that I don't know how to obey to your will, my Lord, if you aren't here to voice it. I am sorry to inform you that Foreseeing is not one of my talents. Would you tell me whether I could do something else for you, besides raising your son, cooking your meals, waiting for you at home and making you happy in bed?"

Sirius suppressed the urge to slap her - so fake was her saccharine voice.

"Look, I am sorry for being late. I told you that I am. It's just, it's really dangerous, Angela. I don't want anything to happen to you or Caine."

"Then what do you suggest, Sirius? To keep him confined in here? I've been doing this for months. He will get sick if he can't go out regularly, you have to realize that once and for all."

"I know." Sirius sighed. The truth was that he'd been neglecting Angela and Caine for too long. His free time was not enough for everyone, that was it, and he had to make sure that James, Lily, and Harry were safe enough. Unfortunately, that meant that Angela was left alone to deal with Caine. True, she was a very capable woman, but still, he needed to do something to help her. To be with them. "Look, I have a free morning tomorrow," he said. "We can take Caine to a children's theatre and have lunch outside before I go to the Ministry."

She looked down at the parchment on the table and slowly shook her head. "There is no need for that, Sirius."

"Angela, I want to."

"Do you, really?"

He decided to ignore the doubt in her voice and sat on the sofa next to her. "Is that the material that you had to give to your editor?" he asked, pointing at the parchment.

"No, it's the file of the charm that I'm trying to develop with Flitwick."

"Ah, yes, your Revealing Charm," Sirius said. "I had almost forgotten all about it. You haven't mentioned anything about it lately."

Because you haven't asked, Angela answered mentally.

For a brief, incredible moment, Sirius looked at her with interest. "How is it going?"

"Fine."

Realizing that he was not going to get anywhere with her, he stood up. "I'll go to Caine's room."

"He's sleeping."

"Never mind."

But Caine was not sleeping. At some point, he had awoken and sat up in his bed. Sirius smiled, happy that he had found him awake. "Hello, puppy," he whispered, and Caine looked at him and smiled.

"Hello, Daddy."

"What are you doing here?" Sirius asked. "Looking through pictures, ah?"

Caine threw a nervous look at the door. "Don't tell Mummy that I'm awake," he whispered. "She'll be angry."

Sirius grinned at him. "I won't, I promise. Now, tell me, are you looking through pictures?"

Caine shook his head. "I'm reading," he answered, and Sirius laughed and came nearer, and then his laughter stopped. The children's book had no pictures in it. Caine was following the lines with his chubby finger, smeary with chocolate. Sirius took a mental note to make a Vanishing Spell to the crumbles of the biscuit that Caine had secretly brought to his room, before Angela saw them.

"You can read?" Sirius asked disbelievingly, and Caine nodded proudly and read the next paragraph with a little stammering, but read it aloud nonetheless. He's learned how to read and I didn't even know. "Since when can you read, Caine?"

"Mummy and Remus taught me," Caine beamed at him.

Remus! So, she keeps taking the child to the traitorous bastard, Sirius thought angrily. What nerve he has, betraying us all and at the same time trying to play father to my son. How dare he! Of course, if Sirius had spent a little much more time with his family, then maybe he would have been the one to teach Caine how to read.... He banished that thought immediately, pulled Caine close, and held him tight. One day, when all this is over and they are safe, I'll make it up to you, he thought. I'll hold you, I'll play with you, I'll sniff you until you beg for mercy....

"Daddy! It hurts!" But Caine was laughing, and Sirius laughed, too.

His laughter died as soon as he came back to the living room. Angela looked furious - pale, with crossed arms and tightened lips.

Sirius did not need to wonder what happened, because he was informed immediately. "I've just had an interesting Firecall," his wife said. "With James. He wanted to make sure that you've come back without problems."

Sirius froze, inwardly cursing his friend's concern. "You've been with them ever since you left work," Angela stated. It was not a question. "Bloody hell, Sirius, answer me!"

He did not say anything.

Angela started pacing the room. "This is too much," she hissed. "You tell me you would be home by five! I make a business appointment because I suffer from the delusion that you'd keep your word for once, and what do you do? Go to James and Lily's place, of course. Cheer them up while I have to neglect my job again because I can't find a babysitter at such a short notice. Then you come here and have the cheek to tell me that I shouldn't take Caine outside on my own, when the truth is that you are more interested in spending your time with James and Lily instead of us. And to top it all off, you come here and lie to me! You weren't going to tell me where you've been, were you, Sirius? You would have gladly continued to lead me into thinking that you've had work to do. Am I right? Or am I right?"

"I'm sorry. Look, I'll make it up to you tomorrow morning - "

"You'll do no such thing," she interrupted him and firmly refused to give up to the sudden exhaustion that threatened to overcome her. "James told me what your plans for tomorrow morning were - to visit them and play chess with him. There is no need for you to change them."

"I've already changed them."

"Well, it's too late!" she snapped. "Far be it from me to be the burden that separates you from your obligations and desires. You can go there and be with them. I will continue to be what I've been feeling like for months - a single mother."

She left the living room. Sirius decided to give her time to calm down, but when he lied down next to her in bed, she turned her back on him.

The next morning, Angela woke up alone. Sirius was nowhere in the flat, and she realized that he must have taken her to her word and went to James' place. Maybe he just wanted to get even with her for last night when she had refused to have sex with him. Who knew? Who cared? She was too tired to even feel angry. She barely had the energy to make breakfast. Caine obviously felt that something was wrong because he was unusually quiet and obedient.

In the afternoon, she felt better and decided to hold her meeting with Alain Montresorre earlier, so she took Caine and Apparated them both to his flat where her son started playing happily with the toys she had brought with them while she and Alain were analyzing the latest bits of information that they had obtained.

Angela immediately felt his eyes on her and knew that he had noticed her pallor. She wondered briefly whether he suspected anything about her family problems. He probably did. Alain was a clever man. She stood up as soon as they had finished their discussion.

"We have to leave now," she said, and then Alain made a move to take her hand.

"Are you feeling all right, Angela?" he asked, and she smiled.

"Of course I am."

"All right." But he did not believe her for a moment. She was in a bad state and it probably had something to do with her husband, even if it was only the fact that he let her go out when she was ill. He doesn't deserve her, he thought. If everything was fine between them, she would have no reason to avoid me as she has done during those two weeks after I kissed her. The simple truth was that Angela's husband was not good enough for her; that was it.

"Do you want to go for a walk with me?" he asked both her and Caine. "There is a park nearby and we can get some ice cream."

"Yes!" Caine yelled excited. "We can go, Mummy, can't we? Say that we can!"

We can't, Angela thought, panicking. I can't go for a walk with a man who's in love with me.

Still, Alain was a nice man and he did not care about James and Lily - he cared about her. He thought she was an attractive woman. A beautiful woman. A woman who deserved to be placed first. And her son craved attention that he did not receive from his father - only from her and Remus.

"Yes," she said, "we can go. In fact, Alain, we'd like to."

------------------------------------------

A. N. So? What do you think this far?