A/N: Don't read this note if you don't want slight spoilers for this chapter :)

Sorry for missing my usual update day! Things are starting to get busy for me with work and I wanted to add the last scene before posting this. Anyway hope you all enjoy and that you're all having a great week! I'm looking forward to hearing what everyone thinks of this chapter. Some interesting developments are afoot...and also the return of someone special ;D

Chapter Twenty Seven | Aliquant

[An uneven part of a whole]

All around her is darkness. The wind howls so loudly that it is nearly piercing. It's cold and damp and eerily familiar. She's been here before. Her heart gives a sickening lurch in her chest as she hears the crash of waves sift through the air beyond the dark stone that she is standing against. She looks up, squinting through the darkness, anticipating the ragged footsteps and glowing eyes. One hand lifts to press against her chest and the drumming heartbeat beneath it. She clenches her fingers into her robes.

The howling wind erases all other sound, but it doesn't calm her. She feels as though she can't move from her spot, huddling into the jagged stone wall. It is almost like a lifeline to her; the cold stone grounds her, though not necessarily for the better. When the sound of loose gravel begins to faintly echo through the – where is she, again? – the wall becomes more of a barrier than a safety net. She presses herself further against it as if she hopes it will provide some sort of hiding place, but she knows better.

It's the eyes, she thinks. They see right through the darkness, or at least they seem to. It is just a figment of her nightmarish dream. She knows that even as she stands in the center of it. Somehow, some piece of her consciousness has followed her here, but this knowledge doesn't help her. She still cannot move except to clench at the fabric over her heart and flicker her eyes across the vast darkness laid out before her, searching…

The loosening gravel turns to footsteps. She can hear the shuffle of them, the sound of boots lurching just so against the floor. It's almost a methodical sound, like a metronome that sits upon a windowsill, ticking back and forth without skipping a single beat. A constant reverberation that joins the others before it in an echoing wave that she cannot escape. In her dream state, it doesn't even occur to her to try. She merely presses herself further into the damp stone, which feels so real beneath her fingertips, and shivers against the piercing cold that tunnels into her from wherever it had come.

It almost feels as though there's been a paralyzing spell cast upon her. She urges herself to push off from the wall and run towards that howling wind, but the thought is feeble and ungrounded, and she loses it just as quickly as it comes. Whatever small effort is made to shift her body away is abandoned when she sees the faint orange glow reflecting off the damp stone across the way, and she knows somehow that it is too late. Her heart beats faster, a drumming pulse that only increases in tempo until she finds it difficult to breathe.

The glowing eyes turn and lock onto hers, and she jolts back as if the mere sight of them burns her –

Only to tear her eyes open and sit up so fast that her head spins.

"Viv? Mmm…you okay?" Sirius's sleepy voice wonders nearby.

She inhales sharply at the sudden sound and turns to look towards it, only to find him sprawled out on his stomach the other side of the bed, his face buried into his pillow.

The sight is so extraordinarily normal that she finds herself leaning back against the headboard with a sigh. Relief cuts through her so sharply that it almost stings. She raises a head to her hair, twisting her fingers through the strands, and grimaces, "…Yeah. Nightmare."

Sirius hums and falls silent for a moment. He appears half-asleep, though it doesn't stop him from tiredly mumbling, "Another one?"

She pauses at that and glances over at him, but his eyes are closed. It seems like an innocent question. There's no trace of demand in the sound. He doesn't appear intent on getting to the bottom of said nightmare, but his enquiry is more perceptive than she'd expected. She hadn't realized he was aware that she's been having nightmares. Whenever she wakes up from one, he's usually still sleeping. Or so she'd thought.

"…Mmm," she grunts, not wanting to go into specifics about the dream. She doesn't want to acknowledge it. She doesn't want to admit that she's still shaken by the Halloween Gala and the events surrounding it. But clearly she is, or else why would she be haunted by these visions of those glowing eyes? She's been successful, so far, in pushing those unnerving memories out of her mind during her waking hours, distracting herself whenever her thoughts betray her, but she cannot stop the nightmares. They keep coming no matter what she does. Not even the sleeping potions she'd tried have helped her stave them off.

"Wanna talk about it?" Sirius wonders after a few moments of silence. She turns her head to look at him again, only to discover that he's opened his eyes now and is looking back at her. There's a more serious light to them than there had been before. The sleepy quality of his expression seems to be fading now.

She pauses, then sighs and murmurs, "It's always the same. I'm in the darkness, and there's this fierce wind blowing and it's cold. It feels so real…like I'm actually there."

She frowns and looks away from him, staring sightlessly across the room as she relives the dream. Then, shaking her head, she grudgingly admits, "The man I…killed. The muggle? He's always there, too."

Her voice is tentative and so quiet that it comes out as a whisper. Sirius feels his mouth curve down. He's a bit surprised that she actually told him. He's not sure how long she's been having this dream, but he isn't completely blind. He's aware that she's hasn't been sleeping well and that, despite her best efforts, she hasn't forgotten what had happened the night of the gala. Vivian is good at pretending she's perfectly fine, but he's more perceptive than most people think.

He pushes himself up and moves to sit next to her.

"It's just a dream," he murmurs, hoping to offer some form of comfort. He reaches for her hand and takes it in his, running his thumb over the back of it.

Vivian swallows and sighs out with a laugh, though it's far from genuine. She nods, "Yeah. I know."

She lifts her eyes to his. For a moment, he doesn't move, grappling with half-formed thoughts of what he could say to soothe the fear that these nightmares have plagued her with…but Sirius is really more a man of action than of words. He leans over to thread his fingers into her hair and kiss her, instead.

She doesn't seem to mind the tactic. In fact, another quiet bolt of surprise fills him when she angles her body to his and reaches up to curl her fingers around the loose shirt he'd worn to bed. She kisses him back so slowly, so reverently, that for a moment it feels as though he's floating. Then he feels her hook her leg over his hips and the slow burn of their kiss turns abruptly to wildfire.

A low sound escapes him as she settles into his lap. Somehow, despite the fire, she still manages to make her every action reverential in a manner he can't quite describe. It's in the way she raises her hands to lightly cup his face. The way she drags his bottom lip into her mouth with a slow, precise sort of desire that makes him breathless. When her hips press down against his completely, the fire turns to a blissful ache.

"…You're making me crazy," he hoarsely tells her, the words muffled against her mouth. His hands lower from her back to her arse. He pulls her more firmly against him, feeling the stirrings of desire quietly thunder through him.

It builds all the more when the press of her hips turns to a more purposeful grind. And more, somehow always more, when he feels her smirk against his lips and purr, "I know," in a voice composed of smoke and velvet.

He shudders.

It's a lost cause, he knows – being productive this morning, that is – when he feels her lower her hands down his body and hook them under his shirt. There's no way he could ever deny her. He's like a rowboat in the ocean and she his guiding light, an incomparable radiance that he couldn't look away from if he tried. And it strikes him, then, that incomparable is the only word he could use to describe her. Each ragged moment of his past is stripped away when she is near, until all he can see and feel and hear is her voice alone, like a prayer upon the rushing wind…

She drags his shirt off. He throws it somewhere behind her, not seeing where it falls. His eyes are locked with hers, unable to look away from the wildfire trapped within the brown of them, her every intention and desire laid out in a single glance. An open book, for once. He feels a pressing urgency to explore each line of it, until he knows it all by heart.

Her lips return to his and he groans as she grinds into him. For a moment, he can't focus on anything but the way she kisses him, but that moment is quick to pass, the urgent fire burning too hotly to ignore for very long. His hands drag up to dip beneath her shirt and up her bare back, the fabric hooking around his wrists as he goes. He kisses her hard as he takes her breast in hand and thumbs over her nipple, focused now on the feeling of it pebbling beneath his palm. She lets out a breathy sound and he suddenly can't bear not to see her properly. Impatience plucks at him just so. He leans back and all but drags her shirt off in one quick movement. Just as quick, Sirius is tilting her upper body back and laying one hand between her shoulder blades, lowering his mouth to her breast and taking her nipple between his lips.

The jagged breath she releases at his move is more than rewarding. He hums out a smile and gives her a playful suck, hoping to draw the sound from her again. Instead, she curls her fingers tightly into his hair and gives it a delicious pull. At the same time, her hips shift against his again, firmly moving against the growing hardness between his legs. The combined sensation sends a dizzying wave of shivers down his spine. His fingertips curl into her back as he pulls away, eyes burning as they lift to hers.

For one heart-thudding second, he takes her in. Bruised lips, wild hair, wildfire eyes…he thinks he's never seen anything so perfect as the sight of her in his lap, bare from the waist up and flushed just so. Though, with a devilish smile, he imagines that he could probably make some improvements. She is still wearing those shorts, after all.

His fingers lower to dip into the hem of them, eyes flashing. Vivian's fingers tighten slightly in his hair as she reads his intentions. Her mouth quirks up and she releases her grip, moving her hands down to rest upon his shoulders as she shifts her hips into his again. His eyes immediately dart down to watch the movement of her body, his expression absolutely burning with a hunger that makes her heart race.

When he dips his hands more fully into her shorts and clenches around her bare ass, her heart feels full to bursting. She slowly lifts herself up, raising her hips in a silent command.

Sirius immediately obeys, dragging her shorts and underwear down her hips as his eyes lower to study each revelation of flesh. He gets the fabric about halfway down her thighs before impatience wins out, and he releases the material to instead curl his arm around her waist. The next moment, he's pushing her onto the bed and Vivian is letting out a surprised little laugh that Sirius quickly muffles when his mouth descends upon hers as he follows her over.

An impatient curse escapes him as he tries to wrangle her remaining clothes off, which are still hooked around her legs. She reaches down to help, shoving the shorts off and all but kicking them away. She nearly sighs in relief when she sees him kneel back to do the same with his pants, apparently too impatient now to waste any more time.

Then, lowering himself down beside her, he reaches over to haul her body against his and kisses her again. The kiss is hard and deep, burning with an urgency that Vivian mirrors in full as she hooks her leg around his waist and shivers at the feel of being so bare with him. Her hand reaches down to grasp him, her own impatience brimming to the surface.

He breathes out with the edge of a moan as she strokes him, thumbing over his length several times before drawing him against her. The feel of her warm heat makes him ragged, but it's nothing compared to the way he feels when he slowly moves into her.

It's like diving headfirst into a fire, each lick of flame more intense than the last. It's like being starved and finding relief. It's an aching feeling that's almost painful but in the most delicious of ways, and it fills him so completely that he embraces every second as if it will be his last.

He groans into her hair and guides his arm around her, holding her gently even as his hips thrust into hers with building need. He breathes her in and absorbs each sound that escapes her as his fingers curl into her hip. Her name is on the tip of his tongue. It sounds when she turns his head to bring him into an open mouthed kiss, her eyes wilder than even before as he stirs feelings in her than she never knew were possible. And when she moans against him and digs her nails into his back, he shivers and races to follow her, hips slamming against hers as he feels her come around him, each pulse of her climax dragging out the beginnings of his own.

He buries his face against her neck and moves faster, pushing her hips into the mattress as he groans, all but curling himself around her entirely as pleasure ricochets through him. He chases it down, gasping against her. In the wake of it, he feels blissfully ragged, as if he's been bent out of shape in the best of ways.

He feels Vivian's fingers combing through his hair and sighs out, turning his head to look at her. Their eyes lock as his body stills to a slow halt, still buried inside her. Her mouth curves up into a lazy, satisfied smile as her eyes flutter closed, and he leans in to kiss her forehead, breathing out against her with a sigh of his own.

A surprise arrives upon their doorstep on the morning of New Years' Eve. Sirius isn't at the cottage when it comes, having gone into the muggle town of Tinworth to purchase some drinks for later that evening. The recent attack in Diagon Alley has made him wary about venturing to such a crowded wizarding community so soon after its occurrence, so he had decided to settle for muggle drinks instead. He returns from the local shop some time in the late morning, wanting to get the errand done before the snowstorm that's said to be arriving later that day. The walk had been a relatively short one which, despite the sting of the cold air, he'd welcomed. Upon returning to the cottage, however, he can't claim to be quite as welcoming to the surprise that's waiting for him in the kitchen.

His first warning comes in the form of Vivian's laughter, which is rarely as uninhibited as it is now. Sirius raises an eyebrow as he opens the front door, hearing it drift into the living room. He shoulders the door closed just as the second warning comes, this time in the form of a lower-pitched male voice that is insufferably familiar.

"Bloody hell, what are you doing here?" Sirius demands once he goes to inspect the kitchen. The moment he steps into the threshold of it and sees the nerdy combed-back hair and eyeglasses, he blanches.

Gavin Clarke lifts an eyebrow and turns to glance at him over his shoulder, sniffing, "Hello to you too, Sirius." Then, in a lower voice, he mutters to Vivian, "I see he's still a prat."

Vivian flashes a smirk over at Sirius, who snorts at Gavin's insult and immediately returns, "And I see you still comb your hair like a posh wanker."

It's Gavin's turn to look faintly insulted. He lifts a hand to his hair and frowns, "At least I don't look like I've just rolled out of bed all the time."

Sirius steps forward to deposit the paper bag he's carrying onto the kitchen table and smirks, "Maybe if you did, you'd actually get a girl to look at you twice, Clarke."

Gavin leans back in his chair, pushes up his glasses, and smugly responds, "I guess Vivian hasn't told you about Anja." When Sirius only sends him a blank stare at that, Gavin shrugs and explains, "My girlfriend."

It's silent for about five seconds before Sirius bursts out into laughter, which isn't exactly the reaction Gavin had been expecting.

"You – got a bird?" Sirius laughs, reaching up to run a hand through his hair. "That's a good one, Clarke. Really. I haven't laughed that hard in a while."

Gavin looks rather offended at Sirius's disbelief. He sends him an imperious frown and sniffs, "I'm not joking. Vivian, I can't believe you can actually stand to live with this idiot."

Vivian smirks wider, but before she can offer up a response to that, Sirius snickers, "You even made up a name for your imaginary girlfriend. Vivian, isn't it hilarious?"

Gavin frowns deeper. Vivian just laughs and drawls, "Oh don't mind him, Clarke. He's never been that bright."

Sirius's snickering promptly fades at that. He shoots her a look and sniffs, "Well that was just rude."

Vivian shrugs over at Gavin as if Sirius's response only further confirms her words. Gavin snorts, smiling a bit.

Now a touch annoyed, Sirius grumbles, "What're you doing here, anyway? I thought you were going to some nerdy Viking school up in Norway."

Gavin huffs at Sirius's poor description and dryly replies, "I'm obviously here to visit my family for Christmas and decided to swing by and see Vivian while I'm at it."

Sirius glances over at Vivian and asks, "And he knew how to find the cottage because…?"

Right. They've practically made the cottage invisible to both the muggle world as well as the wizarding one. The number of wards Vivian's placed around the property is such that even an experienced witch or wizard would find it difficult to break through them all. Even if Gavin knew the location of the cottage, he'd likely have trouble getting into it without Vivian's help, which was obviously offered (because Sirius would never invite Tosspot Clarke inside in a million years, naturally).

Vivian clears her throat and sends him an apologetic look. "I meant to tell you that he was coming. It, uh, slipped my mind."

Sirius doesn't believe that for one second. He raises his eyebrows.

"Slipped your mind," he repeats dryly.

Vivian smiles at him and shrugs, "Yeah."

With a snort, Sirius mutters, "And you call me dim."

Her smile is quickly replaced with a scowl at that, though she supposes she can't be too upset for his little dig seeing as she'd started it. With a scoff, she mutters back, "You wouldn't have let him inside if I'd told you."

"Damned right I wouldn't have. He's a tosspot."

"He's my friend."

"And I'm also still sitting here, if you hadn't noticed," Gavin interrupts with an eyeroll.

Sirius sends him a snide glance and replies, "Unfortunately it's a bit hard not to notice, Clarke."

Vivian sighs and straightens up, looking over at Gavin and asking, "How about we go for a walk and get out of Sirius's hair for a while? We've got a lot to catch up on."

Despite her suggestion being an attempt at appeasing Sirius, it only makes him cross his arms with a frown. "There's a snowstorm coming," he reminds her. The thought of them having a little walk together makes him scowl. The comment about the snowstorm is an excuse and Vivian knows it.

She huffs at him. "It won't be coming for another few hours. Come on, Clarke. Sirius, you're welcome to come if you want."

She already knows that he'll say no and she's right. Sirius snorts and promptly responds, "Ugh. No thanks. I've already had my fill of you to last a lifetime."

This last bit is directed entirely at Gavin, who rolls his eyes again and fires back, "Likewise."

Vivian merely shakes her head at the two and reaches for her cloak, which is hanging from the hook by the backdoor. "We'll be back soon," she tells Sirius, then grabs Gavin's arm and hauls him to the door before Sirius can offer up any further snide remarks.

The sea around Tinsworth is a drab grey today, made all the more so with the absence of the sun. With the heavy clouds hanging low in the sky, it's a morose sight. It's also bitingly cold, though that doesn't stop Gavin and Vivian from walking down to the shore. Gavin conjures a small flame that he cups in his hands as he tells Vivian of his experiences in Norway. His voice is excitable as he recounts several of his rune classes, and he once more tells her that she'd no doubt enjoy them, remembering her proclivity towards Ancient Runes back at Hogwarts.

It's nice to see him again. It feels almost as if she's gone back in time, even, to before graduation. Despite it being a while since they'd last spoken in person, it's as if no time has passed at all. Gavin hasn't changed, it seems.

"You're such a nerd," she sighs at him when he finishes a rather lengthy monologue about some of the Viking history he's been studying.

"And you're still as rude as ever," he huffs back at her, evidently not appreciating that her response to these incredibly fascinating stories is to insult him.

Vivian's mouth twitches up at that. After a moment, Gavin's does, too, and they soon break out into laughter as they walk down the shore, the wind rushing over them and making the flame in Gavin's hands flicker.

"Are you going to tell me about this new job of yours now, or do I have to drag it out of you?" he asks once their laughter dies down.

Vivian shrugs and mutters, "Not much to tell. It's pretty boring most of the time. Though it does have its moments."

She smirks faintly when she recalls the moments spent in the court room, watching Adrian attempt to defend his array of clients, most of whom seem to have more outlandish cases than the last. Bearing witness to his frustration and constant attempts at remaining professional without snapping at his ridiculous clients is definitely a worthwhile reward for said boredom. He's always in such a delightfully foul mood afterwards, which never ceases to make her day a little brighter.

Gavin pushes his glasses up and sends her one of those looks that always means he thinks she's being transparent.

"Vivian," he begins, "you're working in Adrian Mulciber's department. If you actually think I believe you when you say it's boring, you're barmy."

She hums in the back of her throat and mutters, "It is boring."

Gavin raises an eyebrow at her and demands, "You said you're trying to use him to get information, right? Is it working?"

Vivian pauses, glances over at him, and responds, "…Sort of."

He sends her another one of those looks, and Vivian huffs, "It's not that easy. I'm not exactly Mulciber's favorite person in the world, you know? But I have gotten quite a few invitations to attend dinners and things like that, so it's obviously working to some extent." She kicks up a bit of sand and adds, "I don't expect that he'll ever trust me completely. As much as I hate to admit it, he's not as dumb as he looks."

Gavin agrees with that, at least. He tells her, "Don't underestimate him, Vivian. As much as I hate to admit it, I think you're right about him being more perceptive than he lets on. Though it says a lot about his current standing, if he's been placed in the lower courts."

She hums and nods, "From what I've gathered, it's my fault he's there. I sort of…made him look like a fool when I refused the betrothal."

"So in other words, he's got a vendetta against you," Gavin concludes, sounding a bit exasperated. "And you still thought it was a good idea to use him to get information despite your rocky past with him."

She shrugs. "I've got it handled, Clarke. I know how to deal with him."

Gavin doesn't look convinced.

"I'm worried that you're being too confident," he admits.

"I know what I'm doing," she tells him firmly.

He shakes his head and sighs, "Fine, fine, just be careful. And make sure you keep me updated on everything. I want to know if anything major happens."

At this, Vivian falls silent for a moment before sending him a strained look and nodding. She says, a bit too quickly, "Right. I'll do that."

Gavin's expression once again transforms into that look. They slowly come to a halt and he turns to face her. "…What aren't you telling me?" he asks, his eyes narrowing with suspicion.

Her strained smile grows a notch, and his eyes narrow a bit more.

"Vivian – " he starts.

"I couldn't write it in a letter," she cuts in, pursing her mouth.

"What happened?" he demands, bracing himself. He can tell that whatever it is, it definitely falls into the category of 'major events'.

She sighs. In a rush, she tells him about the Halloween Gala and all that it had entailed. She explains the updated version of her spell and how it had affected the muggle man. When she reluctantly confesses how she had been the one to perform the spell in its entirety, his eyes narrow further. She doesn't much like the look on his face when she gets to that part, though she also can't deny that it feels good to talk about, if not difficult to say aloud. When she finishes her explanation, Gavin doesn't say anything for a few minutes. He seems to be absorbing her words as he turns to study the ocean, mulling it all over.

"…Sirius knows?" he asks, finally.

"…Yes," she responds, her voice just as hesitant as his.

He falls silent again. Then, with a pinched expression, Gavin murmurs, "I'm sorry I wasn't there. Are you…are you okay, Vivian?" He doesn't wait for her to respond to that before rushing out with a sighed, "You should've told me."

She grimaces. "Like I said, it wasn't something I could write down in a letter. There's been accounts of people getting into the mail and – "

"You still should have told me," Gavin interrupts sullenly.

Vivian stuffs her hands into her pockets, feeling a bit awkward when she tentatively responds, "I'm telling you now, aren't I?"

He glances over at her. Then, reaching up to put his hand on her shoulder, he sighs, "Yeah. Look, just because you passed Mulciber's sick test doesn't mean he won't pull anything else on you in the future." She hums out an agreement. He twists his mouth into a frown and asks again, "So are you okay? Things like this tend to change you."

She shrugs, pulling her cloak tighter around her frame as another cold wind blows into them.

"I'm…handling it," is her response. She can't say that she's okay with what she had done. The truth of the matter is that she's not okay, and she isn't sure she ever will be. All she can do is try not to dwell upon that night, but it isn't as easy as it seems when her mind is constantly betraying her with reminders in one form or another. And then there's her nightmares, ever dragging her back to those dark thoughts just when she thinks she's starting to feel better…

"I've been having dreams," she tells him, meeting his eyes.

Gavin frowns. "What kind of dreams?" he asks.

She frowns, too. "I'm always in this cave…or something. I can't see it clearly. It's too dark. But in every dream, I'm being followed by the Inferi I created, and I can't move or fight back."

They both fall silent again for several long moments before Gavin murmurs, "How many times have you had this dream?"

There's something in his voice, some errant intonation, that captures her attention. She studies his expression as she slowly responds, "More times than I can count." Then she murmurs, "You think there's more to these dreams?"

Gavin furrows his brows and runs a hand through his hair, shaking his head. "Not necessarily. It's probably nothing, Vivian. But…"

"But?"

"Just…tell me if anything changes in them," he says, still frowning contemplatively.

She stares at him for a moment before agreeing, "Alright."

He nods at her confirmation and turns back the way they'd come.

"Let's head back," he suggests. "I'm freezing."

She falls into step beside him, pulling her cloak further around her. Then, haltingly, she murmurs, "I'm glad you're here, Gavin."

He turns to send her a small smile and bumps her shoulder with his, replying, "Yeah. Me too. Though I could do without Sirius Black and his snide remarks."

Vivian tilts her head back and laughs at that, allowing the previously heavy topic to fall away as Gavin starts to unapologetically complain about Sirius the entire way back to the cottage.