Chapter 4: The Mistakes We Make

Early Morning, 14th July 1995.

A secret kept location in Wales.

Aurelia awoke to the first rays of the sun warm against her pale skin. Mind still caught in the fog of sleep she stretched across the cotton sheets, chocolate curls mussed around her. In those waking moments it had yet to occur to her that when she had fallen asleep she had not been alone. Not that she was unused to waking alone. The illicit affair of her youth had often resulted in her waking to the second pillow already empty. His scent lingered, as it had done so often in the past, when she pressed her face to where he had lain his head only hours before.

Rolling onto her back, the witch covered her eyes with her forearm, blocking the intruding summer light. Images from the night before flash through her mind. That kiss in the the doorway, throwing all caution to the wind. His anger at her questioning, the gentle caress of lips that followed. The sudden urgency again for bodies and magic to entwine. His robes and jacket shrugged off in the hallway, her dress flung over the arm chair in living room, his shirt somewhere on the uneven stairway. Breathy moans and breathless sighs. The weight of his body over hers. Skin pressed against skin. Lips brushing lips.

There had been no whispered apologises and no sweet promises. Just the outlet of long repressed desires.

Pulling herself from the empty bed, the brunette did not bother to cover her body as she padded towards the bathroom. Lilac eyes assessed her reflection in the mirror, steam from the water running into the bath tub already beginning to form a slight misting affect. Kiss bruised lips, curls tangled in disarray, stubble rash marring her fair skin. She averted her eyes from the mark that her lover had left on her neck, not wishing to analyse why that was the thing that caused her shame. Stopping the running water with a flick of her wand hand, Aurelia slowly submerged her body into the steaming water, a soothing balm for her aching body.

Allowing her head to fall back and closing her eyes she felt no regret at her actions the previous evening. She had been as complicit in their actions as her paramour; mainly she was disappointed in herself that for a brief moment when she awoke she had wished for his arms tight around her. Their past told her that it was too much to expect, too dangerous of a thing to expect. A sigh escaped her lips; last night was a foolish mistake that they could not risk repeating. She needed to forget what it was to have strong arms around her when she woke, his lips pressed against her neck, words purred against her ear. Shaking her head, she attempted to banish the images that threatened to run away with themselves. Those were things of the past, and in the past they must remain.

Eventually the bath water began to chill and Aurelia pulled herself from the tub, summoning a fluffy towel around herself and going through the motions of her morning routine. Whilst many witches used magic for their daily beauty routines, she preferred the muggle way, despite her pureblood roots. Cleansing and moisturising her skin before applying natural makeup, she did allow herself the use of magic to remove the mark from her neck, aware of how his teeth had nipped the skin there. Teasing the tangles and knots from her curls by hand, she tried not to remember the caressing fingers that had put them there. Dabbing perfume on her pulse points, she attempted to prevent her mind drifting to the memory of his mouth tasting that skin. She dressed simply, trying not to think of the dress that had been hastily discarded downstairs at his hands.

Frustrated at her inability to think on anything other than the man she was supposed to have forgotten, Aurelia pressed her eyes closed and her delicate fingers to her forehead. A quick motion with her wand flung open the bedroom windows, leaving the delicate curtains billowing in the gentle breeze. A deep breath and she turned her attention to the rumpled bed. A swish of her wand refreshing the bedding to its original state before, with a shake of her head, she turned to leave the room.

Descending the stairs and entering the kitchen Aurelia motioned at the window which sprang open, allowing the small barn owl waiting on the window ledge entry. The bird alighted on the table, obediently holding out its leg and allowing her to remove the her mail and the newspaper before it took wing again. Without much thought, the witch reached over to close the window again as she unfurled the paper to the headline: "Albus Dumbledore Removed from Wizengamot". Setting water to boil in the kettle on the hob, intelligent eyes roved across the page, grateful for any diversion from the mistake she was so sure she had made.

—&&—

23rd November 1979.

Spinner's End, Cokeworth, England.

"Am I your dirty little secret?"

"What?!"

"Why am I a secret?"

"To keep you safe 'relia."

"I can see to my own safety."

"Not from him."