a near immunity to the drink. No longer able to drown his sorrows in liquor, Sirius was
forced to soberly deal with his inner turmoil. It did not stop him from drinking the stuff,
though; now it only tasted like nostalgia... and her.
Bathilda drops in most days; she's a fascinating old thing with the
most amazing stories about Dumbledore. I'm not sure he'd be pleased if he
knew! I don't know how much to believe, actually, because it seems incredible
that Dumbledore—
Sirius set the first page down, picking up the second.
—could ever have been friends with Gellert Grindelwald. I think
her mind's going, personally!
Lots of love,
Lily
Dumbledore and Grindelwald friends? Old Bathilda certainly was losing her mind.
Next, she would be telling everyone that, prior to the famous duel between the pair of
wizards, they had been lovers.
October 25th, 1981It had taken Sirius over a month to get back home to Britain. He had gone straight
to Godric's Hollow after making his report to Dumbledore and Moody who, despite having
a demolished face and missing half of one leg after what he considered a "scuffle" with
some Death Eaters, still insisted on trying to help run the Order from his hospital bed at a
safe house. St Mungo's was too risky to keep Order members these days.
Sirius remained inside the small home with the Potters for as long as they would
have him. He had no desire to return to his flat—recalling that the last time he had seen
the place, he and Remus had gotten into a fistfight.
Sirius had allowed Peter to goad him into confronting Remus about concerns he
did not previously know he had about Mia. It had been too close to the full moon, and
both of them had spoken without thought to the consequences.