Fall, 1979

Glancing at the time, Áine checked her reflection in the mirror above the fireplace in her childhood home. It wasn't often that she was able to go out and be social these days, but today was a welcome exception. Grabbing a handful of powder from a pouch sitting on the mantle, she tossed it into the flames and stepped in.

"Potters, Pollard's Oak Road." She stated aloud before feeling herself whisked away.

When she stepped out of James and Lily's fireplace there was nobody in the sitting room. Only a great fat ginger cat lay sleeping on an arm chair. She approached, smiling a little as she crouched down to pet it behind the ears.

"I assume this is a well deserved nap after a busy afternoon of wreaking havoc, am I right?"

Her question was met with a sleepy yawn as the cat stretched a little and then closed his eyes once more. At that exact moment the front door opened. Turning, her heart shot to her throat so fast she nearly choked. She watched his handsome face change from curiousity to shock.

"Sirius..." she gasped. "I- I didn't realize.. I mean, sorry. Hello."

"Hi." He replied, sounding a little breathless.

Áine noticed that he seemed to be just as surprised as she was. Neither of them spoke again for what felt like an eternity, both of them observing the other. She noticed the leather jacket he wore, and it reminded her how his habit of wearing Muggle clothes had always made her smile. It had been a few months since James and Lily's wedding. A few months since they had tossed inhibitions to the wind and spent one incredible night together.

"I didn't realize you were visiting today too." He said after a few moments.

"Uh, yeah. Lily asked me over for a few."

"Right. They invited me over as well."

They both blushed a little, feeling nervous. Áine looked down at her hands, but he watched her closely. She looked the same as ever, except for maybe the slight shadows beneath her eyes to suggest that she wasn't getting enough sleep. Yet she was still as cute as she'd always been.

"I've missed you."

He spoke quietly, and she looked up into his grey eyes to see sincerity there. Her heart thudded as she scrambled to remember why she wanted to keep him at a distance. He was unfairly handsome, carelessly so, and the way he looked at her now made her knees feel like jelly.

"Sirius-" she began, but was cut off by James entering the room just then.

"Oh, h-hey you two. You're both right on time."

"Yeah! Here, I brought something to drink." Áine said hurriedly, thankful for the interruption as she offered the bottle of firewhiskey she carried to James.

"Oh, thank you! You didn't have to do that. Lily, they're here!"

Lily bustled in looking radiantly happy. She hugged Áine first, ignoring the pointed look that Áine shot at her completely as she welcomed them.

"It's such a lovely day, isn't it? I'm so happy that you both were able to make it."

Áine saw James and Sirius exchange an amused look before another voice rang through the room.

"I'm not late, am I?"

"Ah, Remus, of course not!" Lily beamed, rushing forward to take his coat.

"Oi! You could have told me it was a party, I would have dressed up a little." Sirius complained with a small smile.

"Party?" Came yet another voice.

They all turned to see Peter step out of the fireplace and look around at them all curiously. Áine couldn't help but notice the peculiar way his eyes darted around the room. She hadn't seen him since the wedding, but he seemed off today somehow.

"Hello Peter! You all arrived at the same time, you're lucky you didn't knock each other out on the way in." James laughed.

Shaking her head a little, Áine followed Lily in to the kitchen. After a few minutes of catching up, the group sat at the table which had been prepared for exactly six people.

Áine chose her seat quickly, strategically sitting so that Peter was between her and Sirius. She didn't want to sit next to him, but she also didn't want to wind up across from him either. With a wave of her wand Lily served the small feast she had prepared to her guests. They all caught up as they ate, for they had all been busy with different things recently. Carefree days on Hogwarts grounds were a thing of the past now, and it was bittersweet.

Once they had all eaten their fill, James cleared his throat. He looked over at his wife who beamed back at him with love and joy in her eyes. Áine was taken aback by the tenderness they shared with that one look. She wondered what it was like to love someone so much. She'd had a handful of boyfriends at school, but never a love like that. With a guilty pang in her gut she thought of Sirius. Maybe Lily had been right... he at least deserved an explanation. If there was any hope at all of saving their friendship, she would have to buck up her courage and have a conversation with him. She didn't have long to ponder, however, as James spoke.

"I supposed you all are curious as to why we've asked you all here for lunch today."

The young couple glanced excitedly at one another once more as their guests nodded in agreement. Joining hands, they both looked about the table once more.

"We are overjoyed to announce that Lily is with child. He is expected to be born by fall of this year."

There was a moment of pause, then a sudden uproar as almost everyone jumped to their feet. Many congratulations were passed around, but Áine remained frozen to her seat. Her eyes filled with tears, for many reasons. The first and foremost was joy. She was so unbelievably happy for her best friend. Yet, she was also terrified. These were dark times, and the Potter's were already a target for He Who Must Not Be Named. She couldn't help but worry about what bringing a child into a world like this would mean.

Casting her thoughts aside as Lily approached, she finally stood and embraced the pretty redhead. She offered her congratulations sincerely, keeping her grim thoughts to herself. Of course they should be happy. Of course they shouldn't let fear dictate their future. She now felt guilty for thinking such thoughts, and appreciated that her friends were much braver than she felt herself to be.

As she pulled away from Lily and went to take her seat once more, she noticed that Peter had been the only other one of them to not immediately rise from his chair at the joyous news. When he realized that Áine was eyeing him and stood to offer his well wishes at last, she wondered if Peter thought similar things as her. Peter was part of the Order as well after all, and knew just as well as the rest of them how vulnerable the Potters would be going forward. James was one of his best friends, so surely it was entirely probable that perhaps they shared the same doubts about how this would play out.

Another wave of Lily's wand sent the dirty dishes away toward the sink, replaced by cups and a pot of tea for the table. The firewhiskey Áine had brought appeared shortly after, and James offered her a knowing smirk as he reached for the bottle and poured some into her teacup. They had all always teased her that, because she was Irish, firewhiskey must surely flow naturally through her veins.

Áine drank deeply from her teacup, not cringing in the slightest as the golden liquid burned its way down her throat. Sirius caught her eye just then, smirking a little as he sipped on his own drink. She immediately looked away, purposefully engaging Peter in small talk. He seemed interested enough, but her own mind was distracted.

Eventually they he sun began its gradual descent from the sky, and since tonight was a full moon Remus took his leave first. Peter followed shortly after. Before either of the two guests that remained could escape, James called to them.

"If you don't mind, Lil and I would like to have a quick word with you both."

"Okay." Áine agreed, hesitantly.

She wondered what else they needed to say. Little seemed as important as the news they had already shared. Sirius seemed equally as curious, taking a spot right next to Áine on the couch. She noticed, even as her heart began to do somersaults, that he seemed to be enjoying this very much.

"What's up, you two?" She asked, elbowing Sirius away as he tried sneak an arm around her shoulders.

"I know that this might come as a bit of a surprise to you both, considering the state of your relationship these days-"

James groaned sharply as Lily poked him in the ribs, and Áine felt her cheeks go red. Sirius seemed to have turned into a statue at their friend's words, remembering that this was a serious occasion.

"We want you to be his Godparents." Lily interjected happily, cutting right to the point.

Sirius and Áine both went wide eyed, looking to their friends to make sure they heard their words correctly. Whatever they had expected to be told, this wasn't it. They looked at each other for a moment before Sirius readily agreed. As he jumped up to shake James' hand, Áine eyed them both skeptically.

"Is this all just a plot to get us together?" She asked bluntly.

Sirius and James both laughed, while Lily looked affronted.

"Of course not!" She exclaimed, her cheeks almost as bright as her red hair. "We simply believe that if anything should happen to us, we want our son to be taken care of."

"And Sirius and I are your best candidates?! Have you met him?!" She asked, pointing her thumb at Sirius before continuing. "Have you met me? I don't know the first thing about children, Lily."

"We don't either." Lily reminded her. "But when we sat down and really thought about it, we realized that... if something ever did happen to the both of us... it's not enough to just know that he would be fed and clothed and given a place to sleep. We wanted to choose two people that might give our son a small taste of who we are. Two people that are the most like us."

Everyone went quiet as she explained. The reality of the danger lurking in the shadows was now fully present in the room, but so was love. Love for the unborn child and love between friends that were more like family. Finally Áine stood and embraced her friend, tears forming in her eyes once more.

"I would be honored to be his godmother." She said.

"I'm honored as well." Sirius agreed.

"Great!" Smiled James, looking happily at them both.

"This is all just precautionary of course." Lily added. "It just makes us feel better to be prepared for the worst."

"I get it, just please don't go dying on us anytime soon." Sirius joked, looking at James.

"We don't plan on it."

"Áine." Sirius called from the front step of the small Muggle dwelling that the little blonde had apparated to.

He had caught ahold of her arm at the last possible second, and had travelled with her to what he could only assume was her home.

"Sirius! What are you doing here? This is my mother's house!" She asked in a frantic, hushed tone as she turned to him.

"I'm sorry." He whispered back, meaning it. "I just need to talk to you."

Áine sighed, shifting uncomfortably. She knew it was time to talk to him, but she had hoped it would be in the form of a letter. There was no getting out of it this time, though. Looking up into his eyes now, she realized that this was why she'd snuck out of his flat in the first place. She could feel herself falling for him, but she couldn't let that happen. Not right now.

"Okay. Let's talk." She agreed reluctantly.

"Did I do something wrong?" He asked.

"What? No, of course not."

"Then why did you sneak out? Why won't you even look at me now?"

"Because I never should have been there, Sirius."

The look of hurt that passed over his face as she forced herself to looked up at him both surprised her and made her feel guilty. She rushed on, trying to explain herself better.

"We both had way too much to drink. Neither of us should have gotten on that bike after how much we'd-"

"I loved that bike ride." He interrupted quietly. "You might want nothing more than to block it all out, but it was the best ride of my life."

"We could have crashed and died, or hurt someone. It was irresponsible."

"When have I ever claimed to be responsible, Áine? When have you, for that matter?"

"You know what I mean."

"You think I would ever let anything happen to you?" He asked, his voice low as he took a step closer to her. "Besides, if I remember correctly, you seemed to enjoy the way I held yo-."

"Stop." She said, forcing herself to let out the breath that had just gotten stuck in her throat.

Taking a few steps away from him back down the garden path, she searched her brain for the right things to say.

"I'm sorry I snuck out." She began, her back to him. "I should have at least said goodbye."

"Goodbye? Why though, why couldn't you have stayed?"

"Stayed? And what, had breakfast with you?"

"Sure. I know my way around a griddle... I could have made us pancakes."

"Do you make pancakes for every girl you bring home?" She snapped, glancing at him.

"Only the ones I really like." He snapped back.

This time it was he that was surprised to see the hurt in her eyes. Immediately he regretted his words; he had not followed her here to start an argument.

"Sorry, that was rude." He backtracked. "I just... I want to know why we can't see where things go. Between us I mean."

"Us?" She repeated blankly.

"Yeah. I'd like to take you out on an actual date. Eventually meet your mum. Maybe even kiss you from time to time."

She stared sadly at him. If she listened to her heart she would have agreed in an instant. Yet this aggravating logic and hesitancy scratched at the back of her mind, refusing to be ignored. It was with a heavy heart that she answered him.

"I wish I could say yes. I want to say yes. But I can't, Sirius. I'm Muggleborn, and you-"

"Are you kidding me? You really think so lowly of me that you think I give a damn about any of that bullshit?"

"No! Of course not. I just meant that... these are dark times. Worrying over my mother is already causing me so much stress that I feel like I can't breathe. I don't want to put a target on your back and have one more person to worry over... not while Voldemort has so much power."

"I can protect myself, Áine. You don't need to worry about me. I'm just asking you on a date, I'm not proposing or anything."

"I know," She said quietly. "But I'm telling you that I won't take that risk right now. I'm trying my best to lay low for my mother. The timing just isn't right."

Forcing herself to look at him again, she hated the sadness she saw in his eyes. She wondered if he replayed that night together over in his mind as well. It was hard not to, because it had been absolutely perfect. There was no denying that their time together had changed things between them. The feelings they shared were no longer fleeting or immature. They were real, and they were exquisite.

"So you're telling me that you want to be with me, but because the world has gone to shit you won't let yourself be with me?" He asked finally.

"It's- it's a bit more complicated than that... but yes." She sighed, her heart sinking.

"I just don't understand. James and Lily seem to be doing just fine-"

"I'm not like James and Lily! I'm not brave to a fault, Sirius. My bravery has limits, alright? I've already lost someone I loved to a war that you know nothing about. I'm not going to go out of my way to attract the attention of that evil fucker or any of his followers. It would only hurt the ones I care about if I did."

He sighed, recognizing defeat. There was no denying that he wanted her, badly. Even though he'd already "had" her, he wanted more. It wasn't just sexual; he'd suddenly realized that he had never taken the time to really get to know her much before. He suddenly felt as though he had wasted the last two and a half year's worth of opportunities to do so. His adventures with James had always been at the forefront of his mind, while dating girls had taken a back seat for the most part. There were quite a few who'd fancied him, but he had never been interested in anything serious outside of his friends.

"Áine, sweetheart is that you?" Came a small voice from the front door of the house that had opened just then.

"Mam! What're you doing up without your cane?" Áine exclaimed, rushing up the front steps and quickly snaking an arm around her mother for support.

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I only crossed the room to the front door!"

Sirius smiled to himself as he followed them through into the entryway, watching Áine help her mother back into her chair. The room was quite cozy, and there were plants of all kinds tucked into every corner and every shelf. There were even more plants that hung from the ceiling, their vines climbing around the room. After a few moments, the woman's gaze landed on him while he peered around.

"Who's the boy?" She asked, her eyes glinting much like her daughter's as she observed his tall frame filling the entryway.

"Uhh," Áine stammered, straightening up. "This is my friend, Sirius. You may remember me telling you about him from school?"

"Maybe. One of James' friends that you and Lily ran around with?"

When Áine nodded, the older woman smiled devilishly.

"He's quite a fine thing, isn't he?"

Áine's eyes went wide, and Sirius's smile only grew more brilliant.

"A fine thing would be you keepin' to your own business, ma." She recovered quickly, throwing a nervous glance Sirius's way.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, dear, but you are me business. It's one of the few perks of bein' your mother."

Áine sighed a little, placing her hands on her hips and smiling down at the older woman. Both were feisty as could be and, despite their bickering, were actually very close.

"You're driving me nuts, woman." Áine said after a moment.

"Well that's a short drive for you, innit?"

Her mam's comment sent Sirius into a fit of laughter. Both women turned their attention to him once more, Áine glaring.

"I don't remember extending you an invitation, you know." She pointed out to him cheekily.

"Oh shush. You go'on up to bed if ya must, I'll take the handsome lad as company for a cuppa tea." Her mother interjected.

Áine had no time to protest, for Sirius crossed the room to help her mother up from her chair with an endearing gentleness and assist her toward the kitchen. She sighed as they went, shaking her head and cleaning up the small sitting room for the day. Her mother was older than most parents of other people her age, and her hard-worked body was wearing down. She had been an only parent for a long time, and had toiled ceaselessly to keep a roof over her head and food on the table after her father passed. She was quite proud to be the daughter of such a woman.

When Áine had received her letter from Hogwarts at the age of eleven, her muggle mother had been in complete disbelief. It had taken a lot of convincing from Dumbledore himself to persuade her that it wasn't just a sham. Thankfully, after he had transfigured an empty milk jug into a lovely bouquet of peonies right before their astonished eyes, she eventually realized that he spoke the truth. That bouquet still stood proudly and as beautiful as ever on the mantle.

She set about the house, tucking away anything her mother had left out and could trip over as she did every day when she came home. The obstinate woman refused to slow down and had taken more than a couple falls in the last years. Áine had considered moving out on her own a few times, but her mother's declining health kept her here.

A few minutes later she entered the kitchen. Sirius met her eye mid-laugh, thouroghly enjoying this. She shook her head again as she poured herself a cup of tea and sat down as well.

"Your mum was just telling me about the time you set a vicious lot of geese upon a poor, unsuspecting muggle girl."

"Did she now?" Áine scoffed. "Did she also happen to mention that I was only six at the time, and the poor muggle girl was actually a nasty little troll? She was throwing stones at the geese as they were simply minding their business. How was I to know that wishing for her to try a taste of her own medicine would result in such a way?"

Sirius laughed, imagining the chaos a young Áine had caused as an underaged muggle-born witch. He counted his luck at following her in here and meeting her dear mother, as she had a wealth of equally endearing stories to tell. They all talked for quite some time as the evening wore on, and when Áine's mother announced that she was ready to settle in for the night she allowed Sirius to assist her back to her chair in front of the television. The older woman left a kiss on his cheek, and Áine was amused to see the hint of a blush on his cheeks as he bid her goodnight.

"Promise me, Ma, that you'll use the cane when you're ready for bed. I'm going to walk Sirius out to his… outside."

"Oh, I will. I promise, child..." she insisted after Áine shot her a look. "Now go on. I'm sure you have better ways to spend your time than to keep an old bat company. Off with you both."

Áine hugged her mom quickly before accompanying Sirius back out the front door. A blanket of silence settled in around them as the door closed and Áine locked it with a quick wave of her wand. They set off at an easy pace side by side along the sidewalk, no destination in mind as his presence here had been quite unplanned.

"So, it seems you've made quite the impression on my mother." She offered after a few moments.

"She is a lovely woman." Sirius smirked mischievously. "I can see where you get your soft-spoken and agreeable disposition."

"You know, you're even more of an arse than she is!"

"But you knew that already." He winked.

They continued to laugh and bicker for about three blocks, eventually finding themselves amongst a few muggle shops. Sirius paused outside a café, a catchy pop song playing softly inside. Turning to Áine, he offered her a rather shy smile.

"Should we go have a cup before we turn in?"

"We've just had one with my mother." She pointed out, returning his smile and feeling strangely light.

"Ah, right... well, I mean... I suppose I could a drink then. If you have time that is." He spoke quietly.

"What, you've decided that you've finished intruding on my plans for one evening?" She joked.

"Something like that." He laughed, feeling suddenly nervous.

She watched the way he scratched the back of his neck and averted his gaze. Surely he was fully expecting her to decline. Yet, she didn't really want to go home just yet. He was easy to converse with after all, and after all of the day's events they definitely had plenty to unpack still.

"I have no other plans for you to intrude on, unfortunately. So I suppose I wouldn't mind having a drink before I head to bed."

"Really?!"

His excited tone made her heart flutter in a way she'd only experienced once before. The last time had been an exquisite drunken night months ago, also in his company.

"But it's not a date." She warned.

He beamed so genuinely that the flutters turned into explosions inside her ribcage.

"Alright then, if you can keep your hands off me." He winked, causing her to roll her eyes. "After you."