The first week of classes had ended, much to the relief of the students and teachers alike.  Friday evening, an audible and collective sigh of relief could be heard all around the castle.  Many of the professors went to Hogsmeade that night, but a few, including Tinuvial, stayed behind.

The young professor felt particularly drained that evening.  She was leaning back in the over-stuffed chair in her chambers, staring unseeingly into the fire.  She had seen Harry at last and spoke to him.  Marline's beard, what a shock that had been!  He was virtually identical to her old friend.  For a second, she would have sworn by Morgaine le Fey that she had been seeing a ghost.


And then there was the other:  Draco Malfoy.  Although he was merely a boy and certainly to threat to her, she had shrank back inwardly.   The spitting image of Lucius Malfoy.  She remembered Lucius's attack on her.  It had taken awhile for her after that to stop cringing whenever a man was nearby.  Although no physical damage had been done, the mere fact of his intents had frightened her.  It would not be until the beginning of her Seventh year that she allowed another man to even touch her.

She smiled somewhat as her train of thought branched off into an entirely new branch, onto earlier and happier times.  It was the night of James's and Lily's wedding.  The bride and groom had long since left the party, yet the celebration to their health and safety (especially their safety) continued.  Tinuvial felt as though life could never be more wonderful than this.  She had served as maid of honor to Lily, whom had never looked more radiant and beautiful as she did that day.

Yet Tinuvial herself had been almost as lovely and she felt it for once.  Her black curly hair was elegantly pulled off her neck and back and the long, deep red dress she wore accentuated her height and the gentle curves that had gradually developed on her slender body.  All day she had received many shy requests for dance- so many, in fact, that she hardly had time to dance with her own partner- Sirius Black.

Finally the crowd had dispersed, leaving only a very tired, yet exhilarated wedding party.  It took only minutes to clean up the mess and everyone began to take their leave of each other.  Tinuvial was planning to ride her broomstick back to London, but Sirius stopped her.


"Where are you staying tonight?" he asked.


She shrugged.  "Probably at the Hogsmeade inn.  They usually keep a room open for me when I need it."  Being an orphan with no family left, Dumbledore had made arrangements for her to stay at Hogsmeade for the summers.


Sirius smiled.  "You know, I only had the first dance with you tonight," he said casually.  He held out a hand to her and bowed rather formerly.


"But there's no music," Tinuvial said, laughing slightly.

He shrugged.  "Doesn't matter."  She gave him her hand and he pulled her back out into the clearing where the massive party had earlier been.

Although she had danced with many men that night, she had always kept a slight distance from them.  The one dance she had been with Sirius had been the ritual opening dance: formal and rather stiff.  This, though…he did not give her much space at all.  It was close and more intimate than anything she had ever done.  He held her closer, on hand holding hers, the other on her lower back.  His dark features were fixated entirely on her.  He moved her slowly, as if they had all the time in the world.


The closeness was beginning to grow more heated to Tiuvial.  Strange feelings were jolting through her veins when he brought her even closer to him, nearly touching entirely.  He lowered his head carefully to hers.

There was nothing at all rough or forceful in his kiss, just gentle and tender, yet she felt the sensation all through her body.  She had never been kissed before- truly kissed, not the fumbling lip-smacks twelve and thirteen year-olds try, or the rough violation of Lucius Malfoy three years earlier.  Yet in one second, Sirius had brought down all her defenses.

Time may have stopped for all Tinuvial knew.  She was so locked into Sirius that Voldemort himself may have turned up and she would never have known.  At last, reluctantly, they parted.  Sirius did not let her go, but stroked her cheek gently.  "Do you want to stay with me tonight?" he asked softly.   There was a hidden promise and meaning in his words. 


Tinuvial looked into his eyes.  While he had been at Hogwarts, he had been quite popular with the girls and went through them quickly, a bit of gentlemanly rake.  Yet his eyes held only sincerity and tenderness, not lust and impatience.  She was not sure entirely what to expect would happen later on, but she knew it would change things.


Things had changed.  In the morning, she left his home and returned to Hogsmeade.  He came to see her whenever he had a chance and Tinuvial began to wonder if she were in love with him.  For the moment, she was.

But then James and Lily died.  And Sirius was sent to Azkaban.  No one had known about them.  Never had she felt so ashamed and betrayed, yet on some level, her girlish love for him continued until she herself was nearly destroyed.

She opened her eyes and realized that there were tears running down her face.   It wasn't meant to be, apparently, that she and Sirius could just continue on the way they were and stay in a fantasy of love.  Voldemort and his people had ruined that.  A burning anger grew in her belly.  He had taken away everything she loved and replaced it with a cold emptiness.  It was alright to look back on the time she had with Sirius with tenderness and regret, but her passion of that time had faded away long ago.

Now, it was just another reason to protect Harry, their one hope, with all she had, even if it meant her life.