Thursday, April 16 – 6:00 pm
Roarke frowned at her reflection. Pants? Or a dress? Muggle clothes? Or robes? She held up the new set of Robes she purchased a month ago and fitted them against her body. Too bulky. They hide everything. She tossed them aside and picked up the lightweight Muggle dress that was her favorite. Might be too cold. Let's see how the hair behaves and then decide what to wear.
Running her fingers through her hair, Roarke debated between pulling it back behind her ears or letting it fall loosely around her face. She tried both ways just to test the effect the style made on her face. With her hair down, she looked older and more mature. The trouble with that particular style was the tendency for the hair to fall flat after a while. If she just held it back with a clip, she could keep the style all evening without worrying about how limp her hair might look. However, Liam had only ever seen her with her hair back, and she wanted to look special tonight. After all, this technically would be their first date.
She left her hair down and charmed the ends so they would stay bouncy and full. She tucked in her blouse and adjusted the belt at her waist. She didn't want to look dressed up, but she didn't want to look underdressed, either. She just wanted tonight to be perfect, and that started with her looking as close to perfection as she could manage. She held up the soft dress again and compared the two outfits. The dress was certainly more feminine…and it showed more skin. Let's go with the dress!
There was a knock at the door. Roarke scowled. "Malcolm, if that is you…" she grumbled as she headed for the front of the flat. She wrenched open the door, ready to chase Malcolm off. It was Liam.
He smiled broadly at her and held a bouquet of purple and yellow flowers in his hands. "Good evening Ms. Lupin."
"Will! What the stars…? I thought we were meeting at your place?"
"We will eventually get there, but I couldn't allow a beautiful woman, such as yourself, to wander the streets of Muggle London unescorted. Besides, this way I can begin groveling sooner and hopefully win your affections more quickly."
Roarke shook her head, smiling. "You are such a tease."
Liam made a gesture of being wounded. "How can you say such a thing when I brought flowers?" He held them out for Roarke to take them.
"They're wonderful. Thank you." She took them from him and breathed in their fragrance. "Are these lilacs?"
"Hyacinth. They are the flower of forgiveness. And the yellow ones are crocus. They represent cheerfulness."
Roarke gaped at him. "You know the language of flowers?"
"No, but I can read." He flashed another smile at her. "Now, if you will so kind as to join me outside." He offered her his arm.
"Let me put these in a vase. Come on in for a second." She ran off into the kitchen for her favorite vase while Liam stood just inside her door. She charmed the vase to maintain the water level and then set the flowers on the center of her coffee table. Liam took a few tentative steps into her flat.
"They look nice."
"Yes, I think so. Er…I have to grab my…er…handbag from my bedroom. I'll be right back."
It was a lie, but she needed an excuse to give herself one last look over. She hurried into her bedroom and fussed with the image she found in the mirror. Liam was dressed very nicely, and she wondered if she should change quickly into her dress. No, he's already seen you in this. Just go…don't keep him waiting!
She grabbed up her tiny handbag and returned to the front door where Liam was still waiting patiently. "All right. I think I'm ready."
He offered his arm again, and she took it suddenly feeling very shy. What's wrong with me? This is just a date! It's not like I've never done this before!
Outside the flat stood an open carriage being pulled by a magnificent black horse. She quickly checked the sky, dreading that it would threaten to rain. However, there wasn't a cloud in sight. Liam opened the door to the carriage and took her hand to help her in. On the seat she found a bucket of ice with a bottle of wine and two glasses. Once Liam was seated next to her, the carriage started moving.
"Will, why didn't you tell me you were going all out for this?"
"Telling you would have spoiled the surprise. Besides, you told me that his had better be worth the wait. I'm just complying with the lady's demands."
Roarke blushed. "Yes, but I feel so…I dunno…underdressed!"
Liam laughed. "You look gorgeous. But then you always do." There was a moment of silence between them until Liam took the wine bottle and opened it. "Care for a glass?"
"I would love one."
He filled the glasses carefully and handed one over to her. "I hope you like it. It's from home."
She took a sip and savored the stinging flavor. "It's delicious. What's it called?"
"Shiraz. It's from Coonawarra. My mum sent it over at Christmas. We always have some for the holidays, and I think she felt badly that I wasn't there to enjoy it with them."
"So why didn't you drink it?"
"I didn't have anyone to share it with."
Roarke thought about the meaning behind those words. Liam had probably spent his Christmas holiday alone. With Easter just a few days away, it pained her to think of him sitting in his empty apartment with no one to celebrate with again.
"When I planned out this evening," Liam said, drawing her out of her thoughts, "I couldn't resist breaking it open."
"Well, I'm glad you did." She touched her glass to his in a toast and took another sip.
The carriage soon stopped at a park close to Liam's building. They walked the rest of the way and were at his front door in no time. He smiled over his shoulder at her before opening the door. He stood back and allowed her to get a good look at what he had done.
The first thing she noticed were the candles floating around the room. They cast a warm, welcoming glow on the normally chilly looking flat. He had cleaned up the place, and even redecorated to some degree. A painting Roarke didn't recognize now hung on the wall over the sofa. The dining table had been set for two with caution to detail. And there was a smell in the air that Roarke couldn't quite place. She sniffed, and frowned.
"Is something burning?"
Liam's face fell and he darted into the kitchen. The sound of an oven door opening was followed by several curses and a yelp of pain.
"Are you all right?" Roarke asked coming around the corner to see what was going on.
"Burnt my bloody hand getting the damn thing out of the oven!" Liam sucked at his singed fingers.
Roarke surveyed the tray of meat now sitting in the sink. It was black and charred and didn't look the slightest bit appetizing. "I think it's dead".
Liam examined the burn across his fingers and nodded ruefully. "I think you are right. Bloody hell, I worked all afternoon on that one!"
Roarke glanced doubtfully again and the smoldering wreck, utterly charmed by Liam's efforts, and bravely asked, "Can we cut in to it and see if it's edible in the center?"
"No," Liam said, putting ice on his hand. "Trust me, it's ruined. There isn't anything worse than burnt lamb."
She spotted something else on the counter. "The pie looks good. At least we can eat that."
"Yeah, the pie's good because I didn't make it!" He let out an angry sigh of frustration and headed into the living room. "I spent all day fixing this place up. Cooking…cleaning. I really wanted this to be perfect…really…memorable." He flopped onto the sofa.
Roarke giggled. "Well then, you achieved it, because I don't think I'll ever forget this night."
Liam looked up at her as she drew closer to him. "You're mocking me."
"No, I'm being totally serious. Everything was absolutely perfect until that stupid bird had to go and injure your hand." She sat down next to him and took his hand in hers. His fingers were rougher than hers, but she didn't mind. The fingertips on the right hand were pink from where they had been burnt. Feeling very brave and daring, Roarke lifted the hurt fingers to her lips and placed a very gentle kiss on them. Her eyes fluttered shut as she pressed her lips to his hand. After a moment, she opened them and locked eyes with him. It took all her courage to not look away. His eyes were so intensely blue. Roarke could feel the blush rise on her cheeks, but still she held the eye contact – and the hand.
Liam shifted forward slightly, never pulling his eyes away from hers. "It's not a bird," he said softly.
Roarke blinked. "What?"
"The food. You called it a bird. Its lamb."
"Oh," was all she could say. "Sorry." Her mind was screaming at him. What are you talking about? Bird? Lamb? Are you nutters?
"I just thought you might see the humor."
Roarke shook her head no.
"The big bad wolf cooking up a little lamb." His voice was just more than a whisper, and his face was growing closer to hers by the second.
Roarke inhaled sharply. "You're not a big bad wolf," she said, her voice barely audible.
"I'm not?" he asked, looking down at her mouth.
She licked her lips, now consciously aware that they were dry. "Liam…I"
"Shhh…" His eyes darted from her mouth and back to her eyes.
Roarke swallowed hard. Her eyes fell shut almost instinctively. She felt his nose brush against hers. Her head fell back as the desire to feel his lips against hers over powered her. She heard him draw a breath.
Someone knocked on the door. "Liam?" a deep, muffled voice said from outside in the hall.
Roarke immediately pulled away from him. "Who is that?" she whispered.
"I don't know, but they had better go away." Liam scowled and stood up to see who was at the door.
"Liam," the voice sounded again. There was another series of knocks. "It's me, Sirius Black."
Roarke gasped and jumped up from the couch. "Oh my God!" she cried under her breath as she frantically looked for a place to hide. "Don't open that door!"
Puzzled, Liam asked, "What's wrong? What are you doing?"
"He can't see me here! I have to…where can I hide?"
"What are you talking about? Black won't care. He's cool."
"He's also my father's best friend! Oh….what will he tell daddy?" Roarke shock her hands nervously.
Sirius knocked on the door again. "Liam, I hear you in there. Will you please open the door?"
Roarke looked to Liam in despair. "Please…"
"Go in the bedroom…and close the door," Liam said with disappointment in his voice. "I'll come get you when he's gone."
Roarke nodded in relief and darted into her hiding place.
***
Liam watched as Roarke slammed the bedroom door shut. His shoulders slumped as he turned to answer the door.
"Mr. Black. Sorry to keep you waiting."
Black smiled at him. "That's all right. I should have contacted you before coming over. I wasn't er…" Black looked over Liam's shoulder into the flat. "Did I interrupt something?"
Did you ever! "No, I was just cleaning up. Come on in."
Black stepped into the flat and paused once he got a good look at the set up. Liam distinguished the candles and lit the regular lamps. "I did come at a bad time, didn't I?"
"No, really…you didn't." There was some truth in the statement, but Liam didn't allow his mind to hang on to the thought right now. "I was just cooking dinner, but I burnt it. It's a good thing…er…she stood me up."
Liam heard a faint thump from the direction of the bedroom and knew Roarke must have heard him. Fortunately, Black didn't seem to have heard Roarke.
"I just found some interesting information on that tattoo you have and thought you might want to take a look at this. If you're sure you don't have other plans…"
"No. It's fine. Have a seat."
Liam joined Black on the sofa. Black took out a stack of parchment and started spreading things on the coffee table. "I told you that your tattoo was an Egyptian Heiroglyph, but I didn't tell you what it was. I wanted to look into the matter before I told you too much about it. Here."
Black handed Liam a photo of some kind of statue. The head on the figure matched the tattoo almost perfectly. "What is this?"
"That's Set."
Liam didn't like the tone of Black's voice. "And who's he?"
"The Egyptian god of chaos. He is the embodiment of evil to the Egyptians. He is sometimes represented with two heads symbolic of the polarity between dark and light – good and evil."
"Does this get any better?"
"I'm afraid not. Set was known for killing his brother and scattering his body parts around Egypt."
"Oh God!"
"There were a few groups who followed the beliefs of Set, but one by one they were exterminated or removed from Egypt. They were easily discovered, as their members would mark themselves with the head of Set. They would honor the night with festivals ending in drunken stupors. When you told me of the events preceding your attack, I couldn't help but think of the Set following."
"But you said all of the groups were extinguished."
"That's what I had to look up." Black pulled out a second piece of parchment and handed it to Liam. "Egyptian gods are becoming quite popular outside of their native home. Many backwards eastern European countries are adopting the rituals and teachings of the gods. About two years ago, a man in Romania complained to his local authorities that the moon stole his son from him. They brushed it off at the time, but recently have begun investigating more closely. They uncovered a Set following involving lycanthropes that has taken root and branched out."
"Following? You mean like a cult?'
"That's exactly what I mean."
Liam was speechless. His mind had difficulty processing the information. Black helped him by clarifying a few things. "It is my belief that Oliver, for reason's unknown as of this moment, joined the cult and came to England with the hope of helping it spread."
"But why me?" voiced Liam softly.
"Simple. You're Australian. It's my guess that the leader of this cult promised Oliver great things simply because of where he was from. Oliver must have been a real find for them. An Australian werewolf. The idea of sending a cult in to a country that has no defenses against it would tempt even the most harmless of leaders."
Liam rubbed his eyes. "So, I've unknowingly joined some cult of evil, dark, werewolves out to populate the world? Great…just fantastic!"
"I haven't verified yet if the Ministry knows anything about this. I don't think they do, or it would have been mentioned in the paper work. If I'm right about this and it is in fact a cult following, then perhaps we can prove that Oliver attacked you under the influence of another potion – one that we have yet to discover. It's a long shot, I know, but it does provide hope. We have little information about lycanthropic behavior outside of the British Isles."
"Then this is a good thing?"
"No. But we can work it into a good thing." Black stacked some of the papers together and handed them to Liam. "Here is some reading for you. I thought you might want to familiarize yourself with some of the details surrounding Set. Something might spark a memory or make more sense to you. But I warn you, this isn't a pretty tale."
"So far none of this has been pretty."
"I know this is difficult, but the more we know, the more we can prepare." Liam nodded, knowing Black was right. Black gathered up his other paperwork and stood up. "I want you to leave the first weekend in May open. I want to use that time to work one on one with you. By that time I should have enough information to toss out a few practice questions at you and see how you handle them. In the mean time, I want you to make a list of questions you have about the whole incident. Perhaps there is a question in your head that hasn't been answered yet. And you never know just what could be use to turn the case around."
"Sure. No worries."
Liam walked Black to the door. "Again, Liam, I am sorry for intruding on you tonight. I'll be sure to notify you before I drop in again."
Liam only smiled and shook Black's hand as he left. Once the door was closed, Liam shut his eyes and called out to the empty room. "He's gone!"
Roarke emerged from her hiding spot slowly. "I know, I could hear bits and pieces. What tattoo?"
Liam turned to face her, but didn't move away from the door. "I'm not sure I'm supposed to discuss it with you."
"I wouldn't tell anyone."
"No, you probably wouldn't. You're good with secrets, after all."
Liam looked away from her frowning face. "What do you mean?"
"Look, it's like this," said Liam as he took a step closer to her. "I'm not very good at pretending things. I'm a pretty open person. I don't like lying and I don't like being lied to. Some people would say it's a real fault to just let everything out, but I think it's a bit hypocritical to hold things back. So, I'm having a really hard time with this. I don't know if I can keep it up much longer – and quite frankly, I don't want to. It's not fair!"
"Keep what up?"
"Pretending that I don't know you. That I don't like you. First your father, now Black. Who else am I supposed to keep his from?"
Roarke looked at the floor. "I just can't…I mean…I feel the same way about it, but my father would be so mad if he knew."
"Then why even press the issue? Why even come here?" Liam's voice raised in volume.
"Because I like you! I want to know you better!"
"And then what?"
Roarke shrugged.
"What happens after all that?" Liam started pacing the room. "What would happen if things developed between us? Hell, what if I had kissed you ten minutes ago? What then? Are we supposed to pretend it didn't happen?"
"No!"
"Then what is it that you want, Roarke? Because I have too much to worry about right now, that I simply can't concentrate on keeping one more thing a secret! When I am with your father, I am scared stiff that I will let something slip…that he will pick up on something I said. Even worse – that he'll come over here! Did you even know he was here the other night? I had to wait outside for him so that he wouldn't come in my flat and pick up your scent!"
"My scent?" Roarke shook her head.
"Yes, your scent. It's all over the damn sofa…in the kitchen. Hell, I can even pick it up in the bedroom! If I can pick it up, then sure as shit your father will!"
She shook her head again in disbelief.
"So what am I supposed to do, Roarke? If you keep coming over here, then it's not going to stay a secret much longer. Or is that the game plan? You say you want to keep this from your father, but you know that he will eventually find out – like some sort of rebellion thing."
Fury flashed across Roarke's eyes. "I can't believe you're suggesting that. I would never…"
"But you are!" Liam stopped and just looked at her. Roarke didn't offer a rebuttal. The silence grew intolerable and Liam exhaled slowly. "I just can't do this. My life is upside down right now. I need something that is stable and reliable. I don't need another…" He said the first word that came to mind without even thinking. "…problem."
The comment obviously hurt Roarke the moment he uttered it. Lima was instantly sorry for having said it. "I didn't mean it like that. I meant…"
"I understood you perfectly," she said picking up her handbag. "And here I thought I was helping you."
"You did, but I can't lie anymore."
"Then I guess it's a good thing Sirius knocked on the door when he did."
Neither one could speak. There was nothing more to say. Liam's heart thudded against his chest with the reality that this was the end. He wanted her to stay…he wanted her to say that she didn't care what her father thought. But she obviously wasn't going to give up o her family just for a date with him. Who am I kidding? I don't even deserve her.
"I should go," whispered Roarke. She brushed past him and opened the door.
Say something. ANYTHING!
"Roarke…" She turned and looked at him over her shoulder. "I'm sorry."
"So am I. Good-bye, Liam."
