"So you haven't mentioned Hogwarts all day," Sirius observed.
He and Audrey were sprawled on the couch where their morning began in what Audrey now deemed the "couch room". Audrey found a Wizarding rock station on the radio, and a drum solo echoed around their lax postures. She still wore Sirius's clothes, though both of them had showered, and Sirius changed into a fresh T-shirt and jeans. Before he left the breakfast table, Remus helped Sirius convince Audrey to stay another night at Grimmauld Place, since she didn't have classes to teach until the following afternoon. She was an easy sell. Remus excused himself not long after, and though they were sure he was in the house somewhere, they hadn't seen him since.
Now, Audrey hummed at Sirius's statement, as she settled against Sirius's chest and between his outstretched legs across the couch cushions. She examined their intertwined fingers on one hand while her other traced light patterns against his denim-clad thigh.
"I guess I was enjoying the escape," Audrey said at last.
"It's that bad?" Sirius said with surprise.
"No, not really," Audrey sighed. "I'd just rather be with you."
Sirius snorted, approving of her deflection method but not letting her get away with it. "Well, I've been on pins and needles since last night. What's the story?"
Audrey hesitated, unsure of where to begin. "So the reason I couldn't come this weekend was that Umbridge is enforcing a more extensive night patrol at Hogwarts. You'll never guess who the lucky first staff members to sacrifice their weekends were."
"Sounds like you're Um-bitch's favorite," Sirius said.
"Hardly," Audrey scoffed, though she couldn't stifle a laugh at the nickname. She tilted her head back to look at him. "And I was paired with Snape."
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Of all the slimy gits... I'm assuming it went as poorly as expected?"
Audrey paused. "I… honestly don't know. He's so weird. One minute he's a grumpy fuck who'll barely say a word to me. Then he's almost joking with me and sharing his top-secret coffee blend. And then we piss each other off and he's not speaking to me again. I have no idea what that guy's deal is."
"With any luck, you won't have to bother with him all that much."
"As you can tell, luck's not been on my side lately."
"Speaking of the greasy prat, how did your Occlumency lesson go?"
Audrey groaned. "He's as bad of a teacher as I remember from Potions class. Enjoys launching an offense before explaining how to defend yourself."
Sirius stiffened, and Audrey could feel the question he wasn't sure he could ask.
"The memory he saw was you leaving that morning through the Floo," Audrey explained. "And he immediately ratted us out to Dumbledore." Sirius grunted, and Audrey hesitated before continuing. "And he saw the night my dad left."
"Fuck," he said sharply, squeezing her hand and wrapping his free arm around her waist. "That's none of his damn business. Are you sure about continuing this? Maybe if you talk to Dumbledore—"
"Someone would see that memory eventually," Audrey sighed. "It's part of the process of learning Occlumency, right? And I do want to learn. Need to learn, more like, for this kind of mission."
Sirius exhaled slowly. "I get it. But please, tell me if he's out of bounds. It would bring me so much joy to punch that prick in the face for a good reason."
"Deal," Audrey said. "And there is good news. Since I was stuck with the weekend patrol early, I won't be in rotation again for two months."
"A silver lining, at least," Sirius said, though he didn't smile. "Have you had to spend much time with the Um-bitch?"
"I'll give you a preview of what I'm reporting at the Order meeting next week," Audrey said with gusto, hoping to brighten Sirius's mood. "I've got Umbridge convinced Dumbledore is taking an interest in me because of my neutrality. She's delighted. She can't wait to hear all about whatever persuasive maneuvers he's going to use on me to join whatever army he's building."
"Seems to be working nicely," Sirius nodded. "Just be careful, alright? She sounds like a monster, but not a stupid one. I wouldn't put it past her to be paranoid enough to put pressure in the right places, you know?"
Audrey did not note aloud the irony of Sirius preaching caution. Instead, she said, "Of course. I'm meant to be projecting this timid and… mild persona anyway."
Her dream in Malfoy Manor flashed in her mind, and Audrey could picture Snape's deep voice calling her "mild" to You-Know-Who's face. She swallowed, electing not to give voice to something that probably wasn't real and grasping at a completely different train of thought.
"You know who isn't being careful?" Audrey said. "Your godson."
"What?" Sirius's eyes widened.
"Snape and I caught him roaming the halls on his own Saturday night. I had to take points from Gryffindor and give him detention."
Sirius's mouth hung open. He seemed unsure of which question to ask, so Audrey explained the entire series of events. The story succeeded in cheering him up, and he seemed especially pleased that Audrey argued with Snape and won.
"My first detention as a professor and it's with Harry, of all people," Audrey finished.
"I'd have put my money on Fred and George," Sirius grinned.
"You could at least try not to look so proud that Harry's breaking rules," Audrey said.
"I'll be sure to reprimand him appropriately in my next letter," Sirius replied with false gravity.
"You've been writing him?" Audrey exclaimed, twisting around to face Sirius. "Didn't Mad-Eye say owl post isn't—"
"Merlin, Audrey, I've already been forbidden from talking to him through the Floo." The smile had disappeared from his face. "I'm not going to cut off contact with my godson completely."
"You're right, I'm sorry," Audrey acquiesced. She pressed her lips to his neck and relaxed into his chest again.
After a moment, Sirius brought a hand to her hair, and his voice had softened. "So what's on the agenda for this week, besides punishing my only godson?"
"Expanding the minds of our youth and some light espionage," Audrey muttered.
"The usual, then," Sirius said lightly, and they both laughed.
"Wait, what band is this now?" Audrey said, nodding toward the radio.
"The Weird Sisters," Sirius said. "Very popular, from what I understand. Dora is a massive fan."
Audrey hummed in approval. "It's in the same vein of Muggle Britpop, though with a bit more of a punk edge. Like Pulp meets Ramones."
"No idea who they are."
"Nothing would make me happier than to introduce them both to you. Do you know much Muggle music?"
"Remus listened to it a bit, and Lily definitely did." Sirius paused. "I'm not sure I'll remember the artist, but there was one song that Moony showed us one summer…"
And then Sirius sang a verse of "Somebody to Love" by Queen, and the motherfucker had the nerve to have a lovely singing voice. Not as perfect in pitch as Freddie Mercury, but pleasant with a little gravelly rasp to it.
Audrey told him the band name and rolled her eyes. "Is there anything you're not good at? Are you a renowned guitarist too? Classically trained pianist?"
"I play a bit of both, yeah," Sirius said, not hiding the smugness in his voice.
Before Audrey could respond, Sirius exclaimed, "Oh, David Bowie! Moony showed us his stuff too. Loads of good songs from that gent."
"Agreed!" Audrey beamed. She told him about Bowie's single with Queen from the 80s, and Sirius nearly fell off the couch.
"Holy shit! We have to hear that one!"
"I'll pick up that album when I'm out getting the new Blur album," Audrey smiled.
"I'd love to see something like that live. It's been ages since I've been to a concert. A collaboration of that magnitude would be something to fucking see. Have they performed together recently?"
"Oh," Audrey's face fell. "Bowie's still touring, but – well, Queen hasn't done a show since Freddie died."
"Ah, that's… that's a shame, that," Sirius said, sobering. "He would have been quite young, wouldn't he?"
"Yeah… he was ill." Audrey wasn't sure she had it in her to describe the AIDS epidemic, but Sirius didn't ask any more about it.
They talked a bit more about music, and Audrey learned that Lily was a fan of ABBA, Fleetwood Mac, and Blondie. Audrey joked that the lead singer of Blondie was Debbie Harry – maybe Lily named her son after the singer.
Sirius let out a barking laugh. "The name 'Harry' was her idea, actually. I wouldn't put it past her."
Not for the first time, Audrey lamented that she would never meet Lily Evans Potter.
The evening passed too quickly for Audrey's liking. Remus joined them at dinner, and they shared a bit of firewhiskey afterward that resulted in a boisterous singalong to "Bohemian Rhapsody." In bed that night, Audrey and Sirius shared whiskey-spiced kisses under a red and gold duvet.
When the first hint of morning light filtered through Sirius's window (the curtains were once again left open), Audrey roused and pulled on her professor robes. Satisfactorily dressed, she leaned over Sirius, whose arms spread lazily across the bed where Audrey had been, and she pressed a kiss to his head.
Sirius shifted and muttered something incomprehensible, and Audrey smirked.
"It's early, love," she said softly. "I'm grabbing breakfast and leaving soon, though. You can keep sleeping."
"Fuck that," Sirius grunted, rolling over. He blinked his eyes open and squinted a sleepy glare at Audrey. "I'll be down in a minute."
Audrey snorted and kissed him properly. Then she left him to get out himself out of bed and she wandered to the kitchen. She fixed herself a bagel with cream cheese, and the coffee was nearly finished brewing when footsteps on the tiled floor announced she wasn't alone in the kitchen anymore. But when she turned away from the counter, she didn't see a mess of tangled black hair, but, instead, a fluff of brown hair streaked with grey.
"You're not usually up this early, Remus," Audrey noted.
Remus rolled his eyes and grabbed the bag of bagels Audrey left on the counter. "I'm not Sirius. I'm quite capable of a normal human sleep schedule, provided it's the right time of the month."
Audrey raised her eyebrows at his mess of hair, plastered to his head on one side and sticking up precariously on the other. "There's no way normal human sleep led to hair like that. The absolute state of you."
Remus huffed a laugh and popped a bit of bagel into his mouth. "Arsehole."
"No swearing at my girlfriend," Sirius said, entering the kitchen, eyes solely on the coffee that just finished brewing.
"She started it," Remus said mildly, watching as Sirius poured the coffee into three mugs.
"You're supposed to be the mature one, Moony," Sirius said, grabbing a cup and sitting at the table.
"She's a professor," Remus countered, taking a mug and joining Sirius.
Audrey took the last cup and sat beside Sirius, giving Remus a look of wide-eyed innocence across the table. "But you're older than me, Remus. So very much older. You should know better."
"Arsehole," Remus smiled, shaking his head.
Sirius watched the exchange with a long pull of coffee, finally narrowing his eyes at Audrey. "Well, I won't defend you when your digs extend to me too."
Audrey ate the last of her bagel and shrugged. "I can take care of myself."
"So self-sufficient. It's so sexy." Sirius leered at her over his mug, and Audrey snorted into her coffee. Remus rolled his eyes.
And then their coffees were drained, and Audrey found herself in the narrow hall in front of the door to Number Twelve, her heart sinking. Remus hugged her goodbye and then retreated to the kitchen, leaving Sirius and Audrey alone.
Sirius wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her hair. Audrey clung to him tightly.
"Only a week," he said quietly.
"Only," she scoffed with a huff, blowing a lock of his black hair away from her face.
He pulled back with raised eyebrows and a smirk. He pressed light fingers to her cheek. "Yes, only."
He kissed her slowly, and Audrey never wanted it to end. But finally, Sirius sighed and moved his lips to her forehead. "Love you."
"Love you," Audrey repeated. She craned her neck to steal one more kiss from him, and he smiled against her lips.
"Alright, okay, I'm leaving," Audrey sighed, stepping away with a frown.
Sirius smiled even more, crossing his arms and leaning one shoulder against the wall. "Give them hell, Audrey."
"I always do."
And then she was outside, and in another minute, she Apparated to the edge of Hogsmeade. She made the familiar trek to the castle and ran into very few people as she entered the school. Audrey freshened up in her quarters and then visited the owlery to borrow a school owl to send a letter to Natalia. She was due for a catch-up with her best friend, and this time she wanted to do it somewhere she didn't have to censor herself. She joined the rest of Hogwarts in the Great Hall for lunch and was looking forward to business as usual until she was intercepted on her way to her afternoon class.
"You've been away from the castle, my dear," Umbridge remarked. Her pink lips were pulled into a smile, but her tone was decidedly sharp.
"I was," Audrey confirmed. "My schedule is a bit unusual, I suppose. My weekend is only just ending, technically. I'm heading to my first class of the week now."
Umbridge's expression didn't change. "Need I remind you, Audrey, you're under my employ. I expect to hear from you on a regular basis. The patrols may have been completed, but I received no report. Before you galivant across the country, you must confer with me. Is that clear?"
Her iron gaze hardened, and in response Audrey widened her eyes with as much apology as she could muster. "Yes, understood. It won't happen again."
"Good," Umbridge chirped with finality. "We will rendezvous tonight in my office, then, to go over your most recent observations. 7 o' clock. No excuses."
Audrey nodded, and Umbridge gave a haughty sniff before turning on her heel and marching down the corridor. Audrey watched her go as she fought the indignation that rose like bile in her throat. It wasn't shocking that Umbridge's sense of control extended to Audrey needing permission before leaving Hogwarts. She also wasn't surprised Umbridge wanted Audrey to report about the first round of weekend patrols. All the same, Audrey was pissed at the surrender she was forced to give this woman, although it was for the good of the Order, her students, and the Wizarding world. Still, it took a few moments of deep breathing for her to feel calm enough to enter her classroom and face her students with an easy smile.
"Can anyone tell me what a stapler is?"