a foul place is where i love you

Three

Sirius Black had already been having a shitty day before the Death Eater heist - the third one this week - and escape into the Forest of Dean added onto it. Between the chaos of being a secret Order of the Phoenix member and a ministry Auror, he was constantly juggling a workload that increased at an alarming rate. And the little free time he had these days all went to consoling the Potters - Sirius's only family as far as he was concerned - and attempting to catch up on as much desperately-needed sleep as possible.

Plus, it was Monday. Anyone that enjoys Mondays must be a demon raised from the fiery depths of hell, if you asked him.

For some reason, Voldemort and his band of cowardly fanatics had decided to up their annoyance levels by at least five notches as of late. Not once in the past month had there been an all-our attack or raid - instead, the snakes had resorted to robberies and heists, leaving both the Order and the uncorrupted parts of the Ministry second-guessing what their next move would be. And that blindness, that vulnerability, was more troublesome than any battle or attack.

When taking all this into consideration, it was no wonder Sirius was fully ready to catch these bastards, and was even more pissed off when they all simply disapparated.

"Dammit!" Sirius bit out as his hex just barely missed an anonymous Death Eater in mid-apparation. His companions, Cadmere, Colbert, Moon, and Jackson, all released their own creative currents of frustration.

They'd failed - again.

"Wait hold on," said Amelia Jackson, checking her Focus - a handy new device, courtesy of the Department of Mysteries. "I'm picking up another signal due north."

A dark, twisted part of Sirius purred contentedly. "You heard her - let's get this son of a bitch."

As one tight-knit unit, they began sprinting in a flock formation through the forest. They didn't to be best friends to work so efficiently, rather, for varying reasons, one common goal in mind: success.

It was a malicious thought, hope, in Sirius's mind. Because if they actually managed to catch this one, it would be more than just the first capture in over a month. No, just one Death Eater could give them highly valuable information, and Sirius ... he'd perhaps be able to look James and Lily in the eye again ...

Sirius cut off that thought, choked it back on a tight, tight leash. Right now, he needed to focus everything on this mission; he could worry about ... that ... later.

"Are you getting any movement?" Sirius called to Jackson as they sprinted, dogging various trees and logs as they went.

"No," she replied, a hint of confusion leaking through her tone. "Whoever they are, they're just sitting there. Perhaps a splinch."

That didn't sit well with Sirius. Had they really been lucky enough to catch a Death Eater because they ... splinched themselves? It seemed very unlikely, but not exactly impossible. A newbie could have gotten so distracted by their narrow escape that they hadn't been able to apparate properly, and a desperate part of Sirius hoped this was the case.

Finally, they found themselves emerging from the forest's depths and into a small clearing - the broken down barn at the far right would make a pretty easy hiding spot for a desperate, injured dark wizard, he noticed - but, standing directly in the middle of the field ...

Messy black hair; a familiar, young face. Even from this distance, Sirius recognized it: the face that resembled his best friend in their youth. It was almost enough to make Sirius stop right in his tracks. No, perhaps ... perhaps he was mistaken ... it couldn't be ...