In the sun-drenched days of summer at the orphanage, you had concealed your true identity from Grant, your heart heavy with secrets from your years at Hogwarts. It was only after graduation, amidst the mounting shadows of the war between the Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters, that you revealed the entirety of your enchanted life to him. Grant learned of your clandestine battles, of your sorrows and glories, right up to your forbidden love for Sirius—damned Black. Yet, Grant remained steadfast, embracing the reality of your heart's desire. But fate was cruel. Sirius Black had been captured and condemned to the desolation of Azkaban.

The year was 1993. Grant returned home to the familiar abode that had sheltered your intertwined lives for so long.

"I'm home," he called into the silence that met him. A sense of foreboding gripped him as he stepped into the living room.

There you sat on the couch in your frayed pajamas, but it was the presence beside you that spun the air thin with disbelief. Damn him—Sirius Black, a ghost of torment, had escaped the grasp of prison.

"So this is the Grant you spoke of?" Sirius grinned, a haunting light in his weary eyes.