Sirius and James left the great hall a little late and very full. Sirius had forgotten about his worries temporarily, satisfied as he was by his belly, and agreed more easily than usual to walk towards the common room by way of the library. James hoped to see Lily walking the same way, if only to be berated by her for his troubles. There was no sign of her outside or inside the library and they carried on, James outwardly dejected and Sirius the same as ever.

They were sauntering down the hallway with an easy air when James remarked, "So you've a little thing for the transfer student I take it."

Sirius snorted and replied almost drunkenly. "What thing? No thing."

"C'mon, man! You're obsessed! I mean, admit it. You stare at her like I've never—"

"Shhh! Did you hear that?"

"Oh please. Don't try to change the—" A shriek echoed from far down the hallway in front of them. "Now that I heard."

They took off running in the direction of the scream only to come upon the most confusing scene possible. Lily was pinned against the wall, frantically dueling two Slytherin girls and slowly loosing, sweat beading up on her brow, her uniform singed in several places. Aine was getting the crap beaten out of her. When James and Sirius arrived she landed a particularly heavy downwards blow and knocked one of her attackers to the floor before the same was done to her. While trying to gather herself she found herself kicked hard in the ribs like a football. She coughed hoarsely and sprang up with obvious difficulty, head-butting one attacker square in the nose before being taken down again by the other two.

Before she realized when was happening the girls were being dragged off of her and she was clawing and kicking at someone much larger. Sirius grabbed her swinging arms and tried to trap her flailing legs between his own, which obviously almost got him a very sharp kick to the groin. "Whoa! Whoa, love. Calm down now." Aine stopped, and lolled backwards, panting, her eyes closed, sweat and blood smeared over her face. He couldn't tell if she recognized him as an ally or had simply given up.

Sirius took his eyes off of her for a moment and checked Lily and James. They were sitting against the wall next to one another, arms resting on their knees, staring mutely at the stupefied bodies of the Slytherin girls. James saw Sirius looking his way and gave him an ironic sideways grin, a thumbs-up, and a small eyebrow wiggle. Lily saw him do it out of the corner of her eye and smiled despite herself.

When Sirius turned back to Aine he found her slightly come-to and gazing at him questioningly as though she couldn't place his face, just as she had the night before. Her eyes looked big and glassy in her bare face and she looked at him with something akin to sorrow. He found he didn't know what to say so he propped her up on the nearby wall and felt her arms for injuries, looking her over carefully to make sure nothing was seriously wrong with her. As he finished up he noticed a long trail of blood had dribbled from the re-opened split in her lip over her chin and down her long smooth neck and on to her collarbone, frail and beautiful in the light from the torches.

Sirius couldn't help himself. He knew he shouldn't but he reached over to brush it away and found she flinched away from his touch. It caused him to pause, if only for a moment, before he laid his fingers on her and followed the lone droplet with the pad of his thumb all the way to its source. The feel of her made him exhale involuntarily and lick his lips slowly, like running his tongue over creamy skin. He had expected her to be cool to the touch, but she was warm and alive like coals and he found himself transfixed once he arrived at her lip, his fingers lingering there for longer than they should have, drifting away from the cut. Aine trembled under him and he drew away sharply, searching for something to say to lighten the mood.

He spotted Bellatrix on the floor near them and he turned back to her in mock seriousness. "So tell me. What have you done to my dear, sweet cousin?"

Aine went cold and woke with a start from her stupor. His cousin! What might he do in revenge? She moved to scramble away from him but her grabbed her firmly by the arms. "Here now, what's this? What's wrong with you?"

Aine tilted her face away, trying to protect it with her hands. "I'm sorry! I didn't know! She attacked me. Please understand."

Sirius felt like an idiot. Of course she didn't know he was at odds with his cousin. "No, no." He tried to lean in close to her, make his way past her hands, which batted at him in a way he found sort of cute. "Don't misunderstand me. I hate my cousin and she got what she deserved. I was joking." She looked up at him questioningly and he smiled, suggesting, "Just like the last time?"

"…Oh. Oh! I'm so sorry." She laughed hollowly. "I can't really understand the humor in this country I guess." Because in jail and in me humor is rare. "But I will try to not get offended so easily."

Sirius reluctantly released her. "I don't think you were offended. I think you were afraid."

Aine paused. She couldn't deny it. "Well, whatever the cause may be, I will try to understand you better in the future."

As she turned away from him to look towards Lily he murmured, "Sounds like a plan." and shamelessly ran his eyes over her for the millionth time.