I loved Sirius the first time I read PoA, but my irritation with fanon Sirius greatly lessened my devotion to the canonical one. I'd expected OotP would help restore my faith in him, but... nope. His death took me by surprise, but it didn't make me cry, any more than Cedric's had.

I can't help but think that when it comes to killing off beloved characters, JKR is pulling her punches. The sense of pathos is considerably diminished when she keeps us from ever really getting to know the character (Cedric), or takes away most of our reasons to like the character (Sirius), before she kills them...

Anyway, thanks very much for your comments.