Gaius had only been home from Hogwarts for a few moment when an unknown owl had tapped at the kitchen window. Tossing his school robes over the back of a chair, he crossed over to open the casement, accepting the letter with a smile and passing the unkonwn bird a treat before turning back toward the table. His name was scrawled on the envelope in Sirius' handwriting, although the envelope looked oddly blotchy, as though it had been left out in the rain.
"Probably an explanation of where he was last night," he murmured to himself as he lifted the flap and drew out the paper. After his meeting with Harry and Minerva, Gaius had headed home and gone to bed alone, only to wake alone as well. It wasn't terribly unusual for Sirius to be out all night on a mission, and he often sent an owl to explain if he was going to be away for a day or two. Thus Gaius wasn't worried as the unfolded the single sheet of parchment and held it up to the light.
That mood changed abruptly, however, as he read the words his lover had written in stunned disbelief, then read them again, certain that they couldn't possibly be saying what they did. Sirius... gone? Leaving him? Leaving Harry and Faelan and all of them, because of some crazed belief that the magical drain was all his fault? It was insane! He and Harry and Minerva were working on it, they could fix it, he didn't have to go and... and...
"NOOOOO!"
It was an anguished cry from the heart, as Gaius realized that Sirius was gone forever. He wanted to believe it was all a joke, that it wasn't real, that Sirius would come through the door at any moment, smiling and laughing at having him on. Yet he knew it was nothing of the sort; Sirius wasn't that cruel, and any doubt was as to the reality of the situation was erased completely as the kitchen door opened and Faelan burst in, his face and eyes reflecting Gaius' own sense of pain and disbelief.
"You, too?" he asked in a strangled voice, lifting his letter weakly as he saw a matching parchment in Faelan's hand. "He's gone! Sweet Merlin, how in the hell can he be gone?"