Let Me Live That Fantasy
Chapter One
Quinn's jaw clenched and her knuckles were starting to burn against the porcelain of her mug. "As all of that may very well be this does not at all mean that I have to like him in any way shape or form," she said clicking her tongue against her teeth. Every part of her Auror instincts had her hand on her wand and mouth slightly agape to form the words of complicated hexes. Yet she did not move, though her body remained tense, as she faced the object of her hunt that had been going on for nearly thirteen years.
"Okay well perhaps I do deserve at least some of that cold shoulder," Sirius grimaced, speaking for the first time in the hour that Quinn's brother, Kingsley, had been explaining the entire situation of Sirius and the Order. A hiss escaped her in such a way that it was a wonder that she wasn't a parseltongue. Kingsley seemed to be the only one finding any humor in the situation, a smile playing at the corner of his lips as his warm eyes passed over the two.
"I think that it is perhaps all deserved Sirius," Kingsley rumbled as his voice rose from his chest, a wonder it was still so smooth after being the only one talking for an hour. "After all you were the reason that she rose in rank so quickly, her hunches very nearly got you caught out in more than a few situations," there was an uncomfortable shift between the two at these words. Quinn remembering moments in those situations she wasn't proud of and Sirius more than likely remembering exactly why she knew his logic better than anyone else on the task force.
Kingsley seemed to take this shift as to hopefully mean that they were starting to lighten up but as the room only grew steadily colder and darker he cleared his throat once more. "Either way, like each other or not, we are now working for the same cause. It's reason enough to be civil to one another. And if you want to sit here in silence then so be it but I believe the other hungry mouths of the house will find it quite boring dinner entertainment," he said finally pushing his chair back to release the privacy charm on the door with and jab in its direction.
In that moment Sirius risked looking up and in a low voice said "It's … nice to see you again Quinn." Quinn didn't respond or even move, not sure if to take this as truth or his attempt at trying to be civil. Either way she wasn't in the mood to accept either of the curtseys. Sirius remained hopeful for a few more minutes, a flash of white signaling a smile in her direction, but he betrayed his own nerves by taking the opportunity to get dinner started as soon as it rose. Quinn choose to stay as far away from him as possible, which wasn't hard as she was introduced to everyone that was staying in the house.
"Oh Quinn dear how lovely to see you at last," Molly said wringing her hand before guiding her along to meet the rest of what was being called within the Order "The Cleaning Crew". She of course already knew the Weasley kids from the various cramped quarters they caused on bring your child to work day at the ministry. Hermione seemed to already know about her, she had been warned she always knew a bit too much about everything, and as soon as Harry finally made the rounds to her a smile graced her features at last.
"It's nice to finally meet you Harry," she said softly as she grasped his hand for perhaps a moment too long though it wasn't his scar that she lingered on but rather the structure of his face. His expressions were ones she knew all too well because as much as he looked like his father he had inherited more from Lily than just her eyes. The thought made her throat tighten slightly, Lily wouldn't have wanted her behaving as she had earlier towards Sirius. He was innocent after all and she should be happy to be reunited with a friend even if the circumstances were one no one would have ever wanted.
"It's nice to meet you too. You're Kingsley's sister?" he asked with a slightly raised eyebrow glancing from her to her brother with a questioning expression. The two siblings laughed, they were used to the almost skeptical looks they got when people learned of their shared lineage. It could get a bit annoying at times but over the years they had learned to laugh about it. It just caused a lot less stress than getting irked every time it happened and during the current state of the world the less stress the better.
"Yeah it's all in the hairline can't you tell?" Quinn grinned as she twirled one of her long burnt caramel waves on her finger as she pointed to Kingsley's bald dome with her free hand. Everyone around her chuckled and the room seemed to instantly lighten, she even saw Sirius seem to let out a long breath from the corner of her eyes. She hadn't meant to seek him out but old habits die hard but she wasn't going to actively let them crawl back. So when the food was ready she made a point to walk past him, flipping her hair as her robes fluttered against him, and took the seat farthest away.
The whole troop managed to get through half of what seemed to be the five course meal Sirius had helped conjure up in his desperate need to avoid Quinn when Arthur finally showed up looking completely worn down. She gave him an empathetic smile as she made room for him between herself and Molly. "They still making things as rough as possible for you then?" she asked patting his shoulder as she shook her head.
Mr. Weasley gave a bit of a sigh as he all but dived into his bowl of stew, his eyes drooping still as he spoke up. "When aren't they would be the real question to ask I'm afraid" he groaned, arching slightly to crack his back before giving a large smile. "But it always makes me feel better to see old friends back together again! I can't tell you how hard it has been for me not to tell you our best kept secret myself of course but well I do think your brother would have done a much better job explaining the situation than I," he said clapping his hands together as he looked between Quinn and Sirius.
The table slowly fell into a fit of silence, broken only by Molly whispering about him having no tact and Sirius continuing eating as if he had gone deaf at the moment Mr. Weasley had spoken. "What so you two knew each other then?" Fred spoke up with George nodding at his side; while they were the most out spoken it was clear that they had only said what the other kids were thinking. She could swear she saw Sirius go slightly pink, which she sure was mimicked on her own face which made it grow even darker as she remembered how much it made her freckles stand out. She remembered a time when Sirius had said he loved seeing her freckles up close.
She cleared her throat and looked down at her own plate. "Well we went to Hogwarts at the same time and I was friends with Lily. So when she and James became an item the marauders just kind of got fused with our group," she struggled wanting nothing more than for the conversation to be closed. A point she tried to make evident by saying in a falsely cheery voice "So what's for dessert? I haven't had anything sweet in ages," and clapping her hands together. As she could have predicted, however, the subject seemed to be the highlight of the evening for the kids.
"There's more to it than that isn't there?" Harry asked, piercing her with jaded eyes that told her that he already knew the answer to his own question. "I thought I knew you earlier but couldn't remember where I saw you but now I remember. In my parents wedding photos you're in almost all of them. A lot of them you're practically glued to Sirius side," he said in an almost accusing voice. Quinn couldn't really blame him; after all that Sirius had suffered through Harry would of course come to defend his godfather against any more hurt. Quinn obviously falling into that category in his mind.
"Yeah well they generally serve a lot of drinks at those things she was just holding me up like a good friend would," Sirius quickly jumped in for the save and getting a befuddled look from both Quinn and Harry. It was an answer neither of them had expected and yet from the look passed between Harry and his friends it was one that they didn't buy. This seemed to be the final word on the topic though as three different pies were brought to the table, loudly being passed out by Molly who, much to Quinn's amusement, gave the loud mouthed boys as well as her husband smaller slices.
It was with the addition of sugar that the mood returned to an almost normal state of laughter and updates of who was going to be joining them on which nights for dinner. An attempt on Mrs. Weasley's part, Quinn thought, to entice her to also join them. As tempted as she was to never return except for meeting's she had to admit this food was much better than the quick bites she often got from Matilda's Easy Heat by Wand Meals at the office. It wasn't that she didn't know how to cook it was just that she couldn't often be bothered. She was just so determined to catch Black that she hardly ever bothered to go home to eat. At least she couldn't fool herself with that excuse any more.
Quinn would have loved nothing more than to disappear into the night as soon as her fork hit an empty plate but she felt guilty about not helping make dinner so she was honor bound to help clean up after herself. Unfortunately for her though it seemed Mrs. Weasley found the need to cattle all of her herd upstairs, with the assistance of Mr. Weasley and for some reason Kingsley had the sudden urge to see the process being made in the house cleaning, leaving her alone with Sirius. She didn't fret too much at first, thinking he would surely find some reason to excuse himself after the scene at dinner but to her heart stopping horror he instead between the stove and the sink.
Quinn's heart was in her throat and her ability to breath seemed like something of the past as the only thing separating her from Sirius had shrunk from an entire room to one plate. The muscles in her forearm twitched as a strong desire to slap him swelled like a balloon, one that rammed twenty miles into a pin cushion as soon as he spoke in the intimate rasp she use to know. "I won't talk about what we were Quinn but I don't like keeping anything from our godson," he said in equal parts warning and longing. It was almost enough to melt her heart. Almost.
"Now that's not fair and you know it Sirius. He at least knows that you are his god father. I was never allowed to release the information and if I did now I'm sure I wouldn't get the warm welcome you did since I wasn't locked up for almost his whole life. It killed me not being able to go see him and take him own. And while its not your fault you weren't there you know he doesn't blame you for it but if he is as much like James as I think he is, he will never forgive me in the same way. So never use that as a threat against me ever again," she whispered heatedly, shoving the plate into his chest, fire running through her veins at such a low blow. A fire stoked when Sirius chuckled.
"You know I really have missed you Quinn. So much has changed since the last time I was free. Its nice to know you aren't one of them." Sirius said with such sincerity that Quinn was forced to accept that he meant what he said, a small tug at her heart with that realization. Although, pulled heartstrings or not, though Quinn was not in any forgiving mood and had to keep everything in perspective, no matter how skewed she knew her emotions were making it.
"Yeah well I have changed. Good night Black." She replied coldly shoving her way past him and out the door. She was not going to let her previous love of Sirius Black get in the way of hating him now.