Lorelei’s head was in such a whirl she hardly noticed where she put her feet. She felt pretty sure that Tanner had meant Rosie had been the one who hated her, but she couldn’t help but wonder if he might’ve been talking about Esme. And why should that be upsetting, she asked herself. I don’t even know Esme anymore. Why care what a stranger thinks of you? Because we used to be sisters, she thought with a pang. We used to play in the woods and the water together, when we were children. Esme had begged so hard to be allowed to have a familiar, but North came to me on his own...

“Do you think he mistook you for Esme?” Sirius’ voice seemed to come from so away that it took a moment for the words to register. That hadn’t occurred to her. She turned and was almost surprised to find him at her elbow. She blinked to clear the reverie from her mind.

“You think...he might blame Esme for what happened to Rosie?” she asked. He shrugged and she forced her scattered thoughts to focus on that possibility. “I...don’t know...If it was reversed, I know that Rosie would blame Esme if something happened to Tanner. But...but that doesn’t mean anything now! Tanner’s no help to you. What’s your new plan for getting into a manor filled with vampires?”

“Surely a teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts would know how to deal with vampires...” he spoke it like a challenge. That tone of voice would have had James leaping for a chance to try. Lorelei was not so easily swayed. Her red eyes narrowed at him.

“I was in a house full of vampires for a year,” she said coldly. “You will not get me back inside another one unless you have one hell of a good plan. Airtight. Fool-proof. Anything less is a waste of our lives.”

“You really are afraid of vampires aren’t you?” he couldn’t help but taunt her a little. He had no real plan and wasn’t especially worried about that part.

“If you were smart enough, you’d be afraid too,” Lorelei said. “How afraid of them do you think Esme is?” Power unleashed itself in her voice again and her scorn lashed him with almost physical pain. It was hard to even look at her. He felt as stupid and contemptible as she thought he was. She seemed to grow bigger, like an offended goddess. The urge to cower was very strong, but he shook it off and turned away so she wouldn’t see how badly she’d rattled him.

“She was never so afraid that she didn’t try to help you!” he snarled over his shoulder. “How many castles and tombs did she go into by herself? She might’ve been as scared as you are, but at least she took action anyway! For someone she loved. For you. ” Lorelei went quiet. If it was possible for her to be anymore pale she might have gone a shade whiter. Her aura of anger and contempt was gone, leaving only a downcast-looking woman draped in black.

“And is that what you think you’re doing?” she asked. This time her voice was flat and monotone. “Do you love my sister?” Sirius let that question flow over him. He answered the way Esme probably would have.

“Do you?” Lorelei was silent. He turned around again enough to look her in the eye and found that she had retreated behind her sunglasses. Her expression meant nothing to him.

“She’s my sister.” she said finally. The unspoken question ‘What is she to YOU?’ floated under the words. Sirius heard them there, but didn’t feel he owed her any explanations. Let her force an answer out of him the way she had Tanner if she was so curious. Then, he would also have a reason to go for her scarred throat.

“She never stopped looking for you,” he said, twisting the knife. “And even after she found you and every one blamed her for what had happened, all she cared about was putting it right. She found a cure and she spent ten years fighting monsters to get it for you. While you were being fussed over and worried for, she was tracking down vampires and bribing Headmasters to make sure you were taken care of.”

Lorelei seemed to twitch a bit at this. He wondered briefly if she had known about that. It had to sting the pride, to find out that Ficus had been paid in magical items to overlook her abnormalities. Then again, she was a cynical and intelligent woman, she may very well have suspected.

“I don’t need you to come,” he said as calmly as he was able. “I got out of Azkaban. I can get into the Nalicus Estate. Unless you feel some compulsion to act in this matter, there’s no need for you to be involved.”

That was said for the sole purpose of angering Lorelei, but she didn’t seem to react to it. The black glasses hid her eyes and her face might as well have been carved from cold stone. A low whine came from North, and Sirius glanced at the dog. It seemed troubled, looking over its shoulder and back up to Lorelei. It occurred to him that the familiar could be responding to whatever emotions Lorelei had locked behind her mask. Assuming such emotions exist at all, he though, a bit sourly. Still, perhaps it would be easier to read the dog than the woman.

They stood silent for a moment. Sirius noticed that her dark glasses didn’t show his reflection. He waited for her to speak or move or slap him cross-eyed. He glanced back at North and this time the dog just looked dejected. Was Lorelei crestfallen as well? Wanting to do something, but too proud to fall in with his lack-of-plan? He turned away again and started down the hallway, expecting her to follow. It was her voice, though, that came down the corridor after him.

“If I am not completely cured,” she said. “Brohm will still have sway over me.”

“What?” Sirius stopped to look back at her. “You mean he can control you?”

“If I am not cured,” she said again. “He can command me to die and my heart will simply stop. He is that powerful. You mock my fear of him, but you don’t know. Dementors may be worse than vampires, but they affect everyone. How brave would you be if a Dementor was only interested in YOU? No one else. What if there was something about your happinesses that it wanted more than anyone else’s? What if it took enough of your soul to leave you alive, but not enough to ever quite be able to be warm and happy again?”

“Stop,” Sirius begged. “I get it. With vampires it’s personal.” Her voice had caught on her last statement and he had the uncomfortable feeling that Lorelei was close to saying something she’d never admitted before, and he didn’t want to be the one to hear it. It wasn’t meant for him and he had no idea what he could say to comfort her that wouldn’t make things much worse.

“You don’t get it at all,” she said, but to his cowardly relief, turned away from him to walk to a nearby window.

“Consider this then,” he said, anxious to change the subject. “What if....” He let the word drag until she looked at him again. “You ARE cured? What could he do to you then?” The two black lenses stared holes through him.

“He could start over again from the beginning,” she said after a long silence. Her fingers lifted to cover the bite scar on her throat. “Another bite, another cell... Providing he doesn’t kill or ghoul me right away.”

“I give up,” Sirius turned away again. “If you think of something helpful, let me know.”