"How on earth did you two manage that?" Cynthia pushed away from the door walking closer to the men standing in her flat.

Sirius was practically preening, a smirk naturally sitting on his handsome face. James looked less prideful than his friend, but only by a smidgen. The shorter man's eyes danced with glee, accompanied by a silent shrug.

"Haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about love." Sirius spoke casually before turning to his companion. "You Prongs?"

"Not a clue Padfoot." James crossed his arms, holding his chin and looking towards the ceiling as if in deep thought.

"Oh knock it off!" Cynthia rolled her eyes lightly as she spoke, earning small chuckles from both men.

"Can't I'm afraid," Sirius began dramatically. "How could I ever ignore my manners in the presence of a woman?"

"Really?" Cynthia playfully raised a single skeptical eyebrow at the tall man in front of her.

"Yeah," James chimed in, having already dropped his previous pose. "The manners just kinda just pop up when I need them. But in this git's case, it's just shameless flirting day in and day out."

"Being a gentleman is in my nature. Hardly something one would turn on or off, especially when it works so well." The black haired man finished with a wink as he defended himself.

Both James and Cynthia laughed at the sight, the woman shaking her head as she did.

"Is that what you're calling this, being a gentleman?" Cynthia began guiding the boys through the front room as they spoke.

She once again reclaimed her chair, sitting as she had before. The boys followed after, making themselves at home on her couch. James slung one ankle over his knee, leaning back into the couch. Sirius sat with both feet on the floor, nearly teetering on the edge of the couch. Spying the untouched plate of treats he threw a questioning glance to his hostess.

Cynthia smiled and nodded back. The man didn't wait long and he quickly scooped up a few biscuits, munching on them as if they were the first thing he had eaten all day. The girl reached out, claiming one for herself before they were all gone. She silently offered one to James but he simply shook his head, still smiling. Cynthia shrugged, holding the small treat on her one hand as she continued speaking.

"Who on earth taught you guys that sort of thing anyway?" The girl waved the hand holding the cookie animatedly as she spoke. "Who bows to anyone these days?"

Cynthia saw Sirius eyes go wide for a moment, before hardening slightly and growing dim. It was as if he had remembered something he would rather not have.

"Asia is big on bowing actually, a few other places 'round the world too I'm sure." James idly threw the comment out, drawing Cynthia's attention to him. The words also pulled Sirius back, his eyes shifting to shock instead of numbness as he looked to his bespectacled friend. While Cynthia wore something more akin to surprise, Sirius looked almost affronted for some reason.

"How on earth do you know that?" Sirius asked almost accusingly.

James didn't even respond with words, he simply threw a bored look towards his friend as if silently asking 'are you an idiot?'.

"Moony?" Sirius asked, receiving an eye roll from James. "Gosh, you had me going there Jamsie," he continued with a sigh, "One swot is more than enough, thank you very much."

"You do jump to the worst conclusions." James nudged Sirius with his shoulder. "You should know, Lily's going to try and fill my head with more useless facts than Remus ever thought of."

Sirius' eyes filled with mischief. He was about to say something, something that was 100% suggestive and would probably earn him a good stinging hex, or at least a slug in the arm for now. But before the man could voice anything, Cynthia spoke.

"Is 'Moony' another friend of yours?" She began, slight confusion on her face.

What was it with these guys and the weird nicknames? How did one even earn a name like that? Someone might need to warn this 'Lily' about what she was getting into, assuming she hadn't realized already. One way or another, the woman would need all the help she could get if these boys were anything to go by.

"Yeah, we all went to school together." Sirius began, reaching out for another treat. "Had to drag him out of the Library far too often. Only reason he saw the sun during school was cuz' of us. Loves reading old books and learning new…" He paused for only a moment. "stuff."

"Only reason we graduated with such good grades is because of him." James quickly jumped in, throwing a small unreadable look at his partner.

Cynthia listened happily, ignoring the slight interaction between the two men. Perhaps there was something about school James didn't want to talk about? It would be rude to press on about it, it was only school anyway. Nothing truly interesting happens at school.

"Sounds like you guys get along." She gave them an out, moving the conversation away from such boring topics.

The two boys smiled, obviously thinking of past days.

"I like to think we enjoyed going on new adventures together." James mused. "Lots of stories for the next generation."

"More like we loved to get into trouble." Sirius countered. "Out of the four of us, I do hold the record for most detentions." The man wore this announcement like a badge of honor, puffing out his chest slightly.

"I skipped out one time, Sirius. One Time!" James sounded slightly exasperated with his friend, shooting him a look while trying to accentuate the singular happenstance with his raised finger. "Just let it go"

"Not even after we die," Sirius folded his arms indignantly. "I will never forget you ditched me so you could go chase a skirt."

"Like you're any better?" James dropped his voice letting it fall into a 'are you kidding me' tone.

It sounded to Cynthia as if they had had this argument many times already, having it over and over again like a broken record. The girl bit into her small desert, letting the boys rattle on. They were here for a reason, right? Not just here to mull about old transgressions.

Cynthia focused her mind on the men in front of her. She leveled her breathing allowing her eyes to relax as much as possible. Slowly the colorful glow surrounding them became visible. It was getting easier, perhaps all the practice she had been getting as of late.

The woman took in the current colors of these two men. Both quite similar to the other night, a happy yellow, some streaks of blue swirling here and there. What was interesting was the dark purple splotches smattering across James' frame. He was uncertain about something, meeting up today perhaps? Or maybe it was something to do with Lily?

Cynthia turned to look more closely at Sirius. The man was also glowing in a soft yellow hue much like before, but he had one plate sized gray blob lingering by him. It was hard to see, almost ghosting around him. She could have easily missed seeing it if not for the color of the couch. The blob moved and swayed with the other colors, but the yellow color swirled around it, almost as if it was trying to smother it or hide it.

Cynthia's brows furrowed as she watched the colors interact. Was Sirius grieving something? Perhaps it was more like he was refusing to grieve. The girl felt a pang in her heart as she watched the color be all but completely covered by the yellow swirls. The only reason she could keep track of the gray blob was because she knew it was there.

"You can hardly hold me to that James," Sirius's voice cut through her thoughts as he scoffed loudly. "I was drunk! Tell him how obscured this is Thia!"

"Thia?" Cynthia's eyes opened wide for a short moment before she raised a single questioning eyebrow towards the loud black haired man. The same man who was now standing, brandishing his biscuit at James as if it were a mighty sword.

"What?" Sirius turned to look at her, still invading his friend's space with the treat in his hand. He was so focused on her now that he didn't notice James take a huge bite out of the offending biscuit.

"You don't like it?" Sirius was asking her honestly, no trace of joke in his eyes, only curiosity and perhaps something like hope? Did he want her to like this silly nickname?

The woman felt slightly conflicted. This was what, the second time he had used that pet name? It wasn't bad, just not exactly something she was used to. People had tried to give her nicknames before, but they just never stuck. She would rather die than be called something as ridiculous as 'pumpkin' thank you very much.

Did Sirius feel the need to rename all those he was close too? Was he the reason for all the weird nicknames his friends had? Perhaps James wasn't the one who needed the warning sign hung around his neck.

"I mean…" Cynthia paused, trying to find the right words to convey how she was feeling. "It's not as bad as moony."

"What's wrong with Moony?" Sirius' voice almost cracked as it rose higher than normal. He looked positively shocked and slightly offended, as if someone had called his dog ugly or something.

"Yeah! What's wrong with Moony?" James, surprisingly, also looked offended for some reason.

Maybe it wasn't all Sirius's fault for the wacky names…

"Well," The woman paused, surprised at the reaction of the boys. "Nothing I guess. I'm just not sure how one would even get a nickname like that?" Cynthia moved her hands as she spoke trying to explain where she was coming from. "Did he like, I don't know, moon some group of people when you first met or something? Or is he a naturist? "

Silence.

Both boys' eyes were wide with shock. It only took another moment before both men absolutely lost it.

All Sirius could do was point at Cynthia with the half eaten treat in his hand and laugh harder. Any words he had to say were lost as they only made him laugh more. James was holding his stomach, leaning over as his own laugh boomed through the room. Luckily he swallowed the bit of food he had stolen or he might have been coughing up a lung instead.

Cynthia felt her face grow red as the laughter filled her ears. She shouldn't have said that. She shouldn't have said anything! Embarrassment filled her as the men continued gasping and wheezing between laughs. Each time their laughter began to subside, the boys would either look at her or each other before they lost themselves again.

With a groan Cynthia buried her face in her hands, closing her eyes.

"You're something else." The words came from Sirius as he was finally regaining his composure. Peeking between her fingers Cynthia saw the pleasant lopsided smile on his face. He looked down at her with something like endearment in his eyes.

"I can't wait to tell Remus 'bout this!" James, who was still sitting on the couch, smiled broadly as he continued. "In a manner of speaking I suppose he could be called a naturalist."

Both men laughed again, but in a lighter way, probably thinking of how their other friend would react to hearing this. Cynthia dropped her hands, resting them on the back of the chair once again. The young woman couldn't help but hope she never had to meet this other friend. Watching the two boisterous men in her flat, she knew that there was no way this story would not be her introduction to the said man. Just the idea of that was enough to make her want to hide in her room for the rest of her life.

Pushing the thought away, Cynthia stood up. The action caught both men off guard, both simply staring at her.

"Sorry…" James' polite voice came. "Didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable Cynthia."

"Um, Yeah." Sirius chimed in. "Remmy won't mind, he'll get a good laugh."

The men's reaction confused the girl. Were they now trying to apologize? Why? They didn't need to? Noting the hesitant looks she was receiving Cynthia reasoned must have misunderstood why she had stood up. It's not like she had said anything, they couldn't read her mind after all. Cynthia let a fond smile grace her features, ignoring how red her cheeks still no doubt were.

"It's okay, I was just getting up for some tea. That's all." The young woman gestured towards the kitchen. "Figured you lot might want something to drink after all that."

"Thanks, that sounds great!" James let out a small sigh as he realized she wasn't upset.

"Yeah, thanks Thia!" Sirius recovered even faster, shooting her another best selling smile.

Cynthia made her way into the kitchen, resigning herself to the new nickname Sirius was determined to use. The girl threw her apron on before getting to work. She was reminded that these boys were her for something when she once again spied the letter laying on the counter.

"Oh, didn't you guys have a reason for stopping by?" The girl threw a look back as she spoke. "There wasn't anything written in the letter about that."

"Na, just wanted to see your lovely face again." Sirius threw a wink as he plopped down on the couch again. Cynthia rolled her eyes, turning back to busy her hands.

"Actually," James corrected, "We just needed to ask you a couple questions."

"Oh? That makes sense." Cynthia continued as she fetched some mugs from the cupboard. "As long as you don't badger me like you did that poor woman yesterday, it should be fine." The girl took on a teasing tone, hoping to hear what had happened.

"What woman?" Sirius spoke, his voice dripping with confusion.

Cynthia rolled her eyes. There was no use in him trying to be coy. Everyone probably already knew what had happened by now, that's just how fast Martha works.

"The woman you guys interrogated yesterday." She continued, pushing the point. "Martha was just telling me about it. Two strangers in funny clothes pester the new mother of two." She announced the last sentence as if it were some breaking news bulletin they ran on the radio.

"You guys properly messed up, I mean she just had twins and you drove her to tears. What sort of weird questions did you ask the poor woman anyway? Martha said the woman couldn't even remember because she was so frazzled. I can only imagine how her husband nearly ripped the two of you apart."

Cynthia turned back to the front room, a tray with three steaming mugs in her hands. She stopped. When she took in the state of the boys sitting there, they looked almost like completely different people.

Sirius sat up straighter, a stern look on his face. He changed from a flirtatious tease to an official with a job to do. The colors around him shifted right along with his attitude. The soft yellow glow slowly shifted as a dark orange color became more dominant. He was nervous about something.

James sat up, no longer lounging around on the couch. The playfulness in his eyes was replaced with determination. The young man took both his hands together, lacing the fingers. He wasn't sitting on pins and needles like his partner, but he was still very official about this. The dark purple splotches started churning as his uncertainty grew.

This scene startled Cynthia. Why could she still see the colors? Normally they went away when she lost focus or looked away from a target. Had all these years of practice finally allowed her to do this? Also, why did their mood shift so suddenly? Did yesterday's meeting really go that badly?

"Hey, now." Cynthia softened her voice kindly, "It's not the end of the world. I'm sure you can apologize to her, it can't have been that bad."

"Cynthia…" James looked up at the woman before him, a flash of worry in his eyes. "We didn't meet with anyone."

Cynthia's eyes went wide.

"What are you talking about? Martha said you guys were going door to door asking everyone about that night."

"It wasn't us." Sirius stated matter of factly, his voice low and unwavering. "Is there any way they were police officers or something?"

"I… I don't think so." Cynthia's mind whirled as she tried to remember what her previous guest had told her. "Martha said they dressed oddly, she wouldn't say that about the police."

Sirius and James shared a look. Cynthia felt her stomach drop.

"Do you know anything else about these guys?" James asked her in the most serious tone she'd heard from him.

"N-no," She stumbled, the weight of the mugs growing heavy enough for her to set the tray down on the coffee table. "Only what Martha said earlier."

"You said they were talking to everyone? Have they come here yet? What did they want?" Sirius only waited for a response after James reached out grabbing his shoulder.

"She can't answer if you keep that up." The bespectacled man cut in.

Sirius let out a deflated sigh, before turning back to watch Cynthia.

"Sorry," James apologized, "Anything you could tell us would be great."

Cynthia watched the two men as an uneasy feeling settled in her gut. There was no way this was why they stopped by today. The way they were talking, one might think this was life or death. Then again, maybe it was. The girl remembered the newscast from yesterday. People had died. If it hadn't been James and Sirius going door to door, then who was it?

"They…" The girl cleared her throat. "Like I said before, They've been talking to everyone according to Martha. She didn't tell me what they'd been asking. In fact she asked me to…" She paused, her eyes drawn to the window for some reason as she saw a red blur dash past.

"She asked you to what?" Sirius prompted her, his deep pressing tone regaining her attention.

"Um," The girl tried to remember what she had been saying. "She asked me to do my best to remember everything and tell her about it later. She's such a gossip, you know, always wants the details." Cynthia let out a nervous laugh as she finished.

Neither of the men laughed. Sirius crossed his arms, now glaring down at the steaming mugs in thought. James was looking out the window, his hands still laced together nervously as one of his legs bounced. Cynthia stood there in the awkward silence.

"I don't like it." Sirius cut the stifling quiet with his words.

"Me neither," James agreed, not looking away from the window. "I doubt it's one of ours, they don't work this fast."

"Agreed." Sirius turned back to Cynthia, "Any idea when they're supposed to visit you?"

Cynthia watched the two, silently cataloging what they had said. Noting Sirius' eyes on her she realized she hadn't answered yet. Holding a hand close to her chest she compiled her words, only for them to never leave her mouth.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

The sound froze all three in place staring at the door.

It couldn't be…

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

The impatient sound came again suddenly. Cynthia watched as a glowing energy rushed through the door directly at her. Before she could do anything the energy enveloped her. Her mind went blank, all the thoughts and worry vanished like a candle being blown out. Cynthia felt at peace, but there was more. The urge to open the door? Yes, that's what she needed to do.

The young woman went to take a step forward but Sirius reached out grabbing her wrist. Cynthia looked back at him with confusion. Meeting his eyes she saw the sudden fear in them.

How confusing. Why was he afraid? He didn't need to be afraid, did he? If he was then why wasn't she? Should she be worried?

Why… Why am I not afraid?

Cynthia searched deep into the handsome brown eyes before her. She dived deeper and deeper before seeing her own reflection. She focused on her own image. It looked… off… She focused harder…

What was that thing spinning around her head?

Puzzled, Cynthia reached up with her free hand. Feeling something brush past she grabbed it instinctually.

Everything came back to her in a rush. A small gasp escaped her lips as she felt her knees give out. Cynthia's mind was spinning with emotions. All the emotions that had vanished came flooding back ten fold.

What on earth had she been doing? Why had she felt like she needed to open the door? Where had her common sense gone? She had become blank, nothing, empty. If it hadn't been for Sirius then would she have stopped? No. Cynthia knew she wouldn't have. She would have felt no need. But what could have done that to her?

The energy.

The energy that hit her. The energy that she grabbed. Cynthia looked down at her hand, expecting to see some writhing glowing energy, but it was gone. The only thing she saw was her own closed fist on a backdrop of someone's arm.

Arm? Leather?

Thoughts still groggy, Cynthia followed that strong arm back to its source, finding herself in Sirius' arms. His eyes were wide, his lips moving quickly. She tried to focus on his words. Why was this so hard? Like wading through peanut butter or something…

"...what's the matter with you?" His quiet whispers started to make sense, he turned away from her. "It's not working James, she's still not answering."

"Keep trying!" Another whisper came from elsewhere prompting Cynthia to turn her head.

James was now standing, brandishing a stick around. Only a moment later Cynthia saw something white and misty pour out of the end of that twig. Her eyes went wide with surprise.

"I need backup!" He rushed out the hushed words towards the glowing ball of white smoke. "Possible Death Eater's in a muggle…."

Cynthia lost focus on his words as her head was forcefully turned away. She wanted to be upset at whoever had done that, but when her eyes met those of Sirius the thought melted away.

He wasn't saying anything, just looking at her in concern. The young woman felt bad, she didn't want to cause him worry. He was too handsome to be wasting his looks like that anyway. She looked at him closer, her thoughts becoming clearer.

Then again, it was kinda nice seeing such a good looking face worried about her.

Cynthia realized how odd of an angle this was to look at him. Her thoughts continued to clear, as if she was slowly regaining more of her cognitive ability with each passing moment. The intense wave of backed up emotions that overtook her was slowly dispelling leaving her with only her current emotions to deal with. She was finally mentally here in the present, in the arms of Sirius.

It was at this moment that Cynthia's mouth fell open, her face instantly grew hot, even her ears. The girl floundered, glancing down at her position she set about trying to get out of this man's arms. But Sirius kept a good hold on her, not letting her fall out of his hold.

"Back with us now, Thia?" His quiet deep voice pulled her eyes back to his face.

He was so close. Too close!

Cynthia couldn't find her words, merely shutting her mouth and nodding once. The man let out a relieved sigh, but didn't loosen his hold on her too much.

"You had me worried there." A soft chuckle escaped his lips.

"W-what happened?"

"I was hoping you coul…" His words stopped.

The unmistakable sound of the door unlocking echoed through the room.

All three people froze once more. James took up an odd stance, as if getting ready to fence or something. Sirius drew Cynthia closer into his chest, dropping his other arm he pulled out a stick. Cynthia sucked in a deep breath, holding it in.

"Get her out of here." The whisper came from James, a resigned look on his face. Sirius shook his head in response, his eyes filled defiantance.

"I'm not leaving you!" He threw back angrily.

"I'll be fine." James, threw his friend a look. "Go, now!"

Before Sirius could argue the sound of the door opening cut him off, along with a new unfamiliar voice.

"I'm telling you that's what he said. 'That girl has potential' and then he… "

The stranger's voice was cut off as he was hit with a ball of light, collapsing on the floor, half way through the doorway.

"GO!" James yelled, ducking into the closet door to cover himself.

Sirius stiffened. Tightening his hold on Cynthia, he closed his eyes.

Cynthia watched as a new energy began gathering around them, spinning around as if they were in the eye of the storm. The energy grew thicker and thicker until…

POP

TADA! Chapter 13 Done and Dusted!

That was fun to write! I had a ton of fun foreshadowing!

So many questions little Cynthia needs answers to now!

I hope to see you guys in the next chapter,

till next time!

((All rights to Harry Potter Belong to J. K. Rowling))