Early July, 1980
Áine pulled at the neck of her t-shirt restlessly, waiting for the Order meeting to end but also hanging on to every word. This meeting had been very selective, taking place in the Weasley's kitchen. Dumbledore had called them there with the worst news she could think of, and they had just finished setting plans in place that filled each and every heart at that table with a fierce sense of foreboding.
"Does everyone at this table understand and accept the tasks to which you have been assigned?" The old wizard asked.
The rest of them nodded their agreement, though not one of them were particularly soothed with the plan they had formulated. Life was much too dangerous now to find comfort. This new plan amended a very small handful of their issues, and increased danger for those of the group who would have sidestepped it otherwise.
"In that case, I see our meeting adjourned."
With Dumbledore's final sentiment they all rose from the long table. Most of them took their leave almost immediately, assuming the posts they had been assigned. Áine hung back a moment at Dumbledore's request.
"I am aware of your position at the Department of Mysteries as an Unspeakable. A very esteemed career indeed. I must say that I'm proud of you. You have grown so much since the day we met." He began, peering at her over his half-moon spectacles with a small smile.
"Thank you, Professor." Áine said politely.
"Your time at Hogwarts has come to an end, you no longer need to call me Professor." He pointed out, the smile beneath his white mustache widening.
"Sorry. Habit I suppose." She shrugged, laughing nervously.
"Anyhow, back to the point. I must ask for your trust, Ms. Quinn."
"I do trust you, sir. I have had no reason not to." She agreed, sitting up a little.
"I know that Unspeakables like yourself are bound by secrecy, understandably so. Your department studies some of the most ancient forms of magic that will likely never be fully understood. I must ask a question that you are legally not allowed to answer, but I need you give me all the answers you are able."
"I-I... I don't know. I've only been official for a few months. I've barely scratched the surface of my studies."
"That's not important. I have to know if you are familiar with the Hall of Prophecy."
Although she had a feeling this question was coming, it made her nervous. Áine had never discussed such things outside of work. Her very job title was to not speak on such matters, yet here was Albus Dumbledore asking her to do so. Yet, she trusted him, and knew he wouldn't be asking unless it was important. In times like these, rules sometimes needed to be broken.
"I've seen it, sir, but I don't work in there. That's Augustus Rookwood's job, and he's... I'm almost certain he's not on our side of this war."
"You've answered my second question without me having to ask it, then. I believe you're quite right about Rookwood, and you should exercise caution around him. This may prove difficult, because my last request of you is to keep careful watch on him."
"S-sir? Spy on Rookwood?!"
"Yes. If my thoughts about this prophecy are accurate, he will be on the lookout for it. He must not find it."
"But even if he found it, how would he get it?" She asked curiously.
Dumbledore did not answer right away, rather he looked quite confused. It wasn't an expression she was accustomed to seeing on his wise face.
"I presume that I've foolishly assumed that taking a prophecy from the Hall would be an easy task?" He asked after a moment.
"Well, yeah. The only person who can take a prophecy from its place is the person who it was made for. So in this instance, if you're correct in thinking that woman's prophecy is the real thing and it's about Lily's son, the only person who would be able to take the prophecy is him."
"Fascinating." He said, his eyes twinkling with interest. "I appreciate your time, Ms. Quinn. Lay low at work and contact me if you notice anything amiss."
"Yes sir."
She didn't get a chance to ask any other questions as Dumbledore swooped from the room quicker than what seemed natural for a man his age. Molly bustled into the kitchen a second later, a baby with the teeniest wisp of red hair covering his head perched on her hip.
"Áine dear, glad you two are finished up I was worried I'd interrupt you." She greeted, warm yet distracted. "It's nearly time to start supper. Bill! Charlie! Boys, come and set the table please!"
There was a great rumbling noise that shook the entire house as it approached the kitchen. Two boys, aged ten and eight, bounded in and began grabbing stacks of plates and cutlery.
"Are you staying for dinner too?" The oldest one asked her.
"No, sorry. I must be going here shortly. I wish I could though." Áine smiled.
The boy shrugged, counting the stacks of plates. Before she could turn to head towards the garden, Molly blocked her path and shoved the small baby she had been holding into Áine's hands.
"Hold Ronnie for a moment, will you please? This doesn't take long to cook but it would go much faster if I had the use of both hands."
Áine didn't answer, staring wide eyed at the baby she held at arms length. Molly bustled on about whatever it is she was cooking while she and the baby stared at one another. It was in this state of unease that Lily found her. She tried to perch the child on her hip the way Molly had done, although it didn't feel at all natural and the child instantly threaded his slobbery fingers through her blonde waves and yanked hard.
"Oi! Gentle, will you?" She muttered quietly, trying to pry her hair from his grasp.
Lily laughed. Just then a boy who looked to be about four ran in, tears streaming down his face as he latched onto Molly's leg.
"Mum! They've done it again! It's the third time this week!" He sobbed.
"Oh, again? Honestly! Fred! George! You get in here right this second!"
Two identical toddlers padded in, matching grins on both their faces. They looked sheepish as their mother shot them a stern look.
"How many times have we talked about this? Your brothers books are to be left alone, do you understand?"
"Yes mummy." They both chanted, as if this were a rehearsed response that they had used many times before.
"Set them right, now. Dinner will be ready soon."
Áine made eye contact with Lily, and both women stifled a laugh. There were so many children, they wondered how Molly did it. Just being in the same room with them all was overwhelming, but happily so. Áine was just about to say that she missed out on having siblings when the baby she held spit up all over her shoulder.
"Oh, Ron! Sweetie, is it your tummy again?" Molly cooed, taking him from Áine and bustling from the room.
Lily was in stitches as Áine used a rag to try and mop up the mess on her sleeve.
"Oh, so funny. Just you wait, another month and you'll get what's coming to ya, ya arse."
"Relax, Áine. It's just a little spit up."
"It's disgusting." Áine groaned, retching a bit before giving up. "Let's go, I need out of these clothes."
They found James and Sirius in the garden, and after telling both of them off for making fun of her, Áine accompanied them back to the Potter's flat to help them start packing.
"Fuck." Sirius muttered as he turned the key to restart the old truck engine.
"You're letting go of the clutch too quickly. Stop mindin' the RPM and just feel for it." Áine explained again, somewhere between exasperation and amusement.
"It's not as easy to tell when this thing needs to change gear, that's why I keep checking it!"
"There, you hear the way it's whining? Put it in second- easy with it, you're going to wreck the tranny!"
"Keep your knickers on, I've got it!"
"The damn truck won't be drivable by the time that baby is born with you carrying on like that."
At last they were cruising down an empty side-road easily, Áine easing her white-knuckled grip that she had on the dash. It had been a long afternoon of teaching him how to drive the truck, and although he definitely knew the best ways to stress her out, she couldn't deny that she was having fun. Lily's due date was approaching rapidly, and one of their many plans that they had set in place to keep the Potter family safe was that they would temporarily separate the child from his parents when it was time to bring him home.
Sirius would drive James and Lily to one protected location in the yellow pickup while Áine, Peter and Mad Eye Moody would rent a vehicle in her mother's name and drive the baby to another. Marlene would be leaving St. Mungo's with Remus, disguised as the Potters and with a decoy baby, via Knight Bus at the same exact time. It was their hope that if any of them were targeted it would be Remus and Marlene. Many other Order members would be nearby of course, to have their backs in case they were attacked. The rest of them were planning on using a mixture of polyjuice potion, charms and both James and Moody's invisibility cloaks.
This meant that Áine was now giving Sirius driving lessons, and if she had any thoughts before of it being easy since he already knew how to drive a motorbike they were now obsolete. He had stalled the engine in the middle of an intersection where they had argued, laughed and panicked through three traffic signal cycles until he got the truck going again, causing a rather sweet-looking old man to flip them a very rude gesture indeed as he pulled around them. It's was clear that Sirius wasn't accustomed to not being instantly great at something, and Áine had enjoyed watching the learning experience.
"I think I've got the hang of this." Sirius said after awhile.
"You've been going the same speed on the same road with no traffic for the last kilometre. I doubt you're ready for the M25 just yet." Áine chuckled.
Sirius raised his eyebrow at her for a moment, a wild and mischievous gleam in his dark eyes. He then pressed on the gas and shifted gear, causing her to narrow her eyes as the truck sped up.
"Is that so?" He asked, his voice low as he yanked the wheel to the left.
"What the-" She began, but was cut off as his sudden turn threw her body sideways.
When she sat up and regained her bearings, she glared at him. He only shot her another roguish smile as he rounded a curve in the road at an alarming speed. Normally she loved a nice adrenaline rush, but his lack of experience coupled with the realization of where he was headed filled her with fear.
"Sirius Black I swear on Merlin's left bolluck, if you get on that motorway I'll-I'll... oh fuckin' hell toasted!"
Her left hand shot into the little compartment in the passenger door, curling her fingers around her wand although she couldn't think of any spell that would help them due to the sudden panic that was circuiting her brain.
"Hold on, love!" He laughed, his hair blowing in the wind from the open window.
Hold on is precisely what she did, for dear life. Pretty soon he was weaving in between lanes on the M25 like a madman, the engine roaring. He had a hand out the window and a smile on his handsome face.
"This- this isn't a damn bike, Sirius. Give yourself more room or we'll crash!" Her voice came out breathless, her heart racing in her ears.
He laughed again, stealing a glance her way. She looked petrified, and he almost felt guilty. Almost. They cruised along for twenty minutes, and when they eventually got ahead of the traffic he slowed to a more reasonable speed so that Áine would relax. He shifted down a gear smoothly, without grinding the engine for the first time all day. Smiling proudly he said,
"A wonder there weren't any police back there. One good thing about this old piece of junk is that it's far less conspicuous than my bike."
"Or because you're lucky I'm with you and had enough sense to cast a disillusionment charm over us." She argued.
"I count any day that you're with me a lucky day indeed." He grinned again.
"I really don't like you sometimes, did you know that?" She asked him.
"We're unharmed, aren't we? Loosen up a bit. I wouldn't do anything to put you in danger, you ought to know that by now."
She didn't reply, but there was a small smile on her lips that hadn't been there before. He always found a way to weasel his way back into her good spirits, not that she could ever stay mad at him for long. No, it was becoming clearer and clearer that she was falling for him and she was falling hard. Lily and especially James would feel quite triumphant to hear her admit it. Yet, she still hesitated. She knew that if she let him in, really let him into her heart, she would be leaving herself more vulnerable than she had ever been with anyone before. She knew that if she let herself fall, there wouldn't be any getting back from it if he decided to jump ship.
"Where are we going?" She asked, looking around for an excuse to change the subject.
"You'll see; it's not far now." He answered coyly.
Sirius was true to his word, and he exited the highway and drove only a few minutes more. He took a dirt road, the engine sputtering a bit with his clumsy shifting. Finally he parked in a gravel area near a body of water, an aged sign that read Diver's Cove. It wasn't too large and there wasn't anyone around that they could see. The trees were all full and a few flowers poked out around the perimeter of the little scenic lake.
"This is beautiful." She said, taking off her seatbelt and looking around.
She stowed her wand in her back pocket as she opened the door and climbed out of the cab, and Sirius did the same. They walked side by side to the edge of the water, Áine smiling at the ducks that floated a few meters from the shore. The summer sun was warm, and there wasn't a cloud in sight. It was easy to get lost here, in a place so serene. The current state of the world couldn't be more opposite, and as they walked along the water's edge she found herself able to be at peace. When Sirius linked his fingers with hers, she didn't protest in the slightest. Death and darkness didn't exist in this place, which made her heart feel lighter than it had in ages.
After walking along the path for a few minutes, Sirius led her down to a secluded little area between the trees. Her breath caught in her throat when he removed his t-shirt, exposing his lean, sculpted chest.
"Fancy a swim?" He smiled.
Her voice seemed to have quit working as he undid his jeans and kicked them to the side, offering her a quick wink before plunging into the glassy water in nothing but his undergarments. She watched, entranced almost, as he dunked his head beneath the surface and rose again. The droplets running from his bare body glistened like diamonds in the evening sun. He was a marvel to behold, really. It just wasn't fair.
"Come on in. The water is devine."
He didn't need to ask her twice. Taking ahold of their unexpected opportunity to be carefree, she shed her own t-shirt and shorts and glided into the water toward him in only her underthings. His smile was surprised and disarming all at once, as he had highly anticipated to have to do a lot more convincing in order to get her in the water with him.
As she got close to him, he couldn't help but stare. Her freckles were very much on display today after spending so much time in the sun, and her blonde hair shone like a halo around her head. After all the darkness he'd experienced in his short life, both recently and in his childhood, she was the most refreshing drink of lightness and warmth that he could have ever imagined.
They spent the next few minutes playing around, swimming out toward the middle of the lake and taking a few moments to lay on their backs and soak in the delicious rays of sun as it burned itself out for the day. Only when the first couple of stars began to show their faces did they lazily float their way back toward the shore. They talked and laughed easily, and when Sirius found that he could touch his feet to the bottom again, he scooped Áine up into his arms and kissed her.
Áine melted into him, his bare skin against hers sending bolts of lightning to her brain. Their hands and lips explored, no thought given to the rest of the world. For a few blissful minutes, only the two of them existed. The entire universe had been made specifically for the two of them, they felt alive and untouchable.
Eventually the kisses slowed and his hands rested comfortably on her backside as he held her close. She watched him carefully as he tilted his head back to look up at the stars, deep in thought.
"I grew up near here." He spoke quietly after a long while.
"You did?"
"Yeah. About a ten or fifteen minute walk down the way there. I used to come here often to get away from my parents."
Áine felt a wave of sadness wash over her. She knew that Sirius wasn't on good terms with his family. From what she understood of them, they were blood purists. His younger brother Regulus, who Áine knew from school, had died quite abruptly and mysteriously serving Voldemort the previous year. He had been only eighteen. Their father, Orion, had died very shortly after. There was much speculation around his death, but Sirius seldom spoke of his family and and Áine hadn't ever asked about them.
"Have you spoken to your mother at all since they passed?" She asked gently, speaking of his brother and his father.
He looked at her strangely for a moment before training his gaze back on the sky. His family was a very sore spot for him. Even James hadn't ever asked about them so outrightly, allowing him to curse and vent about them whenever he needed to. Yet... looking down at Áine now, with the taste of her on his lips and her delicate hands tangled through his hair, he felt as if he could tell her anything.
"Yes, once. She told me that she wished it had been me that died instead of him."
Áine's brows knitted together, and anger flared up inside her to join the sadness. She said nothing, allowing him to continue.
"She said that if I had died instead, not only would she have her son back, but my father would still be alive as well. You see, my father- he took his own life after... after..." Sirius couldn't bring himself to say his brother's name.
He glared somewhere off to the side, blinking away the sting of tears before they even had a chance to gather. Áine removed one hand from his hair and gently trailed it along his jaw before bringing his chin back toward her. She kissed him softly, comforting him in a way he hadn't realized he needed to be comforted. When she pulled away, she met his eyes with sincerity.
"I'm sorry your mother is a twat. And I'm sorry that your father and Regulus died." Áine finally spoke.
"Nothing to be sorry about. Regulus got what he deserved, becoming a Death Eater. My father was a grown man who made his own choices. It would make no difference to me if they were still alive, I'd not be keeping in touch or visiting home for the holidays."
"I suppose you're right. Still not an easy thing to carry with you though, I imagine. They were your family after all."
"Yeah I guess." He sighed pulling her so that her head rested against his shoulder. "It wasn't all bad. Before Hogwarts we had lessons all week long. We studied for hours each day, learning mathematics and history and geography. My mother even insisted we learn French, for fucks sake. On the weekends though, we would be here. My brother and I played here for hours, spending more time in the water in than out of it in the summer. It wasn't until we got older and I began school at Hogwarts that things really started to change between he and I. He stopped trying to comfort me after my mother had a go at me. He stopped coming down here to swim, and eventually it got to a point where I couldn't recall the last time we had spoken to each other. I met James, and he is by far a better brother to me than the one I grew up with."
"I'm glad for that. You don't deserve the family you got stuck with. Lily's relationship with her sister was fairly similar. I became to her what James became to you. Almost makes me glad I'm an only child." Áine smiled weakly, her head still resting on his chest.
"What's your story? I know your dad has passed... how old were you when it happened?"
"Nine." Áine sighed. "He was a farmer, and he was away in Belfast rioting alongside thousands of others from our area of Bogside after a protest turned violent. They were tired of our neighbors dying and our homes being destroyed. He was one of eight people that died that day. I miss him. He taught me so much... including how to make a petrol bomb."
"Knowing that you have that knowledge is quite terrfying, actually." Sirius smiled into her hair.
"Don't cross me then. Hate to see what's left of ya if you do." She smiled as well. "Hey Sirius?"
"Hmm?"
"I'm glad you're not like your mother."
He let out a barking laugh, letting his head fall back.
"That makes two of us, love."
His lips touched hers again, and she returned this kiss with renewed fervor. With all her heart she wanted to give him all the love that he deserved, to make up for the love he'd missed out on his whole life. Her heart broke for him, especially now that she knew his story. It took a brave man to forsake his entire family, even if they were wrong. He'd been strong enough to escape their narrow-minded way of life somehow, strong enough to remain in his position even after such great loss. The more she learned of him, the harder it was to resist loving him.
"Sirius..." She groaned as his lips trailed down her neck. "Sirius, we can't do this here."
"And why not?" He smiled as his kisses continued over her collarbone.
"Because..."
She struggled to remember her reasons. There had been reasons- and good ones at that- why she had held him at arms length. It wasn't until she felt his rather large bulge through the thin pieces of cloth that separated them that she gasped, pulling away.
Her reasons returned to her all at once, as if she'd been slapped back into reality. They were fighting a war, a very real and deadly war that had already claimed more lives than she could keep track of. How foolish were they to be frolicking off in a glorified pond and feeling each other up while people they cared about were in danger?
"We have to go. It's late, and my mam will be expecting me." She said quickly, disentangling her limbs from his.
"Áine..." He began, reaching after her. "I'm sorry, I just-"
"It's fine." She assured, cutting him off. "We just have to get back. It's getting late and you need to check in with James soon."
"Right." Sirius said, clearing his throat and scrambling to think about anything else that wasn't her. "Sorry. We should go."
The two of them reluctantly waded their way back to shore, pulling on their dry clothes and doing their best to leave their desires behind. Sirius took the driver's seat and clumsily but successfully drove them back to the city.