Chapter 3

A loud Boom woke Sirius. His wand practically flew to his hand and he registered an attack on his wards before he even remembered what he was doing on the floor. He frantically began chanting under his breath bringing the more advanced and draining wards on his flat to full power, as it was it seemed the first attack had all but broken the simpler wards to pieces. That could only mean...

"Sirius Black" Came the magically amplified voice of Alastor 'Mad eye' Moody. "This is your last chance, lower the wards and throw out your wand!"

Sirius laughed loudly and then tweaked his wards a little.

"Fat chance of that Moody! How do I know you're not a Death Eater? CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" He cackled as he heard Moody swearing up a blue streak.

His laughing was cut short however as he felt all of his wards being squeezed lightly. Sirius instantly knew that it was Dumbledore who was doing it, it was a fast and dirty method of getting a feel for wards but less commonly used because of the massive amount of power required to do it. It did however alert the ward holder that someone was probing, because the sensation of squeezing was relayed to their body in phantom sensations, a rather disturbing feeling he idly noted.

The squeezing stopped leaving just the feeling of Dumbledore 'holding' his wards in his magic. He could practically feel the Headmasters confusion as he noted the hole in the wards he'd just created, keyed to Dumbledore himself.

The sound of a low conversation indicated that Dumbledore was conversing with Moody and whoever was outside. The pressure on his wards faded and he heard Moody bark out a few instructions but he couldn't quite make out the words.

He felt a slight tingle as Dumbledore pressed his magic into the hole he had made for him. He frowned in confusion, why would he be doing that? He'd already been able to tell there were no extra traps or wards.

His confusion was cleared up as he felt an odd sensation, it was exactly opposite to the feel of apparating, instead he felt like the tube and he was being pushed outwards to make more space.

As he spun to see Moody and Dumbledore both pointing there wands at him he laughed in comprehension. Evidently this startled the pair, as their faces morphed from battle ready to confusion. Fearing being on the end of the wands of the two most powerful people he knew he did something else he knew would surprise them, he threw them both of his wands. Their identical comical expressions of shock sent him into another hysterical fit.

After a few minutes he managed to calm himself down and flopped into his armchair and waved towards the sofa.

"Sorry about that gents, I think I'm still in shock." He smiled wryly at them and waved about to indicate his flat. "Please excuse the mess."

"This is no time for joking about Black, we've come to take you in." Moody snarled viciously.

Sirius shifted uncomfortably, something Dumbledore picked up on.

"Sirius my boy, why don't you give us your side of the story, I've got a feeling that there is more to this than appears." He said, his face was solemn but there was a hint of his customary twinkle in his eye.

"This isn't a time for feelings or explaining Albus" Moody grumbled, but nonetheless he lowered his wand maybe an entire inch. Something that showed how much he trusted Dumbledore, Moody had always advocated the proper Duelling stance in Auror training, claiming that if your wand was even a centimetre off then you risked missing the target.

"Thanks. I don't really know where to start to be honest, it's all so unbelievable..." Sirius trailed off a little lost.

He knew beyond any doubt that these two could be trusted so he would be telling them everything about the veil. How to tell the tale, however, could be a big problem.

"I find the start is often a good place to start my boy." Dumbledore said as he sat on the sofa calmly.

"Right, well I guess the most important thing for you to know right now is that I convinced James to switch secret keepers, and Lily recast the charm the day before yesterday." Sirius said confidently.

Moody looked doubtfull and suspicious, so pretty much as he always did but Dumbledore looked accepting and even a little pensive.

"That is quite good to know. I had quite the scare that day, and I'm glad to know that I am not as I had feared, going senile." He said all this with a dreamy smile on his face.

Moody and Sirius both looked at Dumbledore like he'd grown an extra head. Dumbledore going senile?

"I've must admit i've always had my doubts about your sanity but what made you believe you were going senile?" Sirius asked, curious.

"Ah yes, sanity. An elusive concept, but one I've avoided quite well I think. I do so hate to be considered normal, I do have an image to uphold after all" His eyes were twinkling like mad by now. "But am I correct in assuming that the late Mrs Potter, performed the charm at sunset? Around seven O'clock?" He inquired.

For a second he worried that he wouldn't be able to remember, but to his surprise, just like the keys to his wards and spells to detect foreign presences and dark magic, the memory was right on the surface of his mind waiting to be claimed.