Chapter 60: Preparations

"Morrigan, we've been practicing for hours."

Sirius slumped back in his armchair next to a window in the Gryffindor Common Room. Real snow was rushing past the glass, glowing white against the dark sky.

Ariadne frowned at him. "We only have one shot at taking this thing down. And ideally, we do it quickly, before it has the opportunity to ravage the castle…or even kill someone."

Sirius seemed unperturbed by this ominous prediction, as did James next to him, who was tinkering with a stolen, defunct Snitch. Remus always looked serious, so Ariadne couldn't really tell if he was reacting to her statement or not.

Sirius sighed and propped his feet up on the table in front of them in his annoyingly languid way. "I thought that showing you one good night of fun might loosen you up a bit, Morrigan. Apparently, you're more difficult to crack than I thought."

James looked up at the mention of their Yule Ball exploits, grinning. "Padfoot's been working on you for a lot longer than the ball a couple nights ago," he contributed with a snicker.

Ariadne rolled her eyes. "Did you think I'd have a magical personality makeover because of the Yule Ball? This is serious, this is the most ambitious and dangerous plan the Death Eaters have ever attempted at Hogwarts!"

"We're taking it seriously, Ariadne, I swear on my mum's cauldron, you've just been grilling us all night and we could use a break," said James, largely undermining his statement by focusing intently on the Snitch wing he had just detached the entire time he spoke.

Sirius sat up and intertwined his fingers. "I didn't think you'd become an entirely different person after that night, just a bit more…relaxed."

"If Padfoot had been railing me all term, I'd be more relaxed," said James very quietly.

The explicit reference to her liaison with Sirius was too much for Ariadne. Realizing that she was probably proving them all right and not caring, she slammed the notes she was holding onto the table. "Fine! Why even bother preparing for a giant attack on the grounds? Why don't we just invite him to a ball? That should loosen him up, he'll probably forget all about killing students! And in the time we don't spend preparing to defend ourselves against a ferocious magical beast, James can hook up with Sirius, as he's clearly dying to do!"

Sirius and James had probably experienced far too many and more rude taunts about their friendship to be fazed by this. James continued to fiddle with the Snitch, now attempting to reassemble the wing, while Sirius considered her. Ariadne gave him a sharp look that clearly said This was your idea in the first place. They didn't need to speak for her to know he had received the message.

"You're quite right, Ariadne," Sirius announced, seemingly in response to nothing. But Ariadne understood that he was replying to her. "Practicing all these defensive spells was my idea, and therefore, I deem that we have practiced enough for tonight, and will resume tomorrow morning." He paused. "Straightaway," he added, seeing the look on Ariadne's face.

"No one put you in charge, Black."

"I'm simply assuming some…responsibility. Isn't that what you want, for us to act more responsibly?"

Ariadne sighed. She didn't have the energy to argue; and anyway, Sirius and James might have a point. It was nearly midnight and they weren't going to accomplish much more that night.

"Wait," she said, as the three Marauders made to get up. "Let's decide what we're going to focus on tomorrow, so we don't waste time deciding."

Sirius glanced at the list of spells he had written on the chalkboard in the Potions dungeon the night of their detention, which they had then stolen.

"Confundus Charm," he answered decisively.

Ariadne frowned. "That's not on the list."

"It's a good idea, though. Confunding a giant will slow it down, confuse it, give us more time to act."

"And even though giant hide will repel most jinxes and hexes, their heads, eyes and ears are their weakest points," said Ariadne slowly.

"Which will allow a Confundus Charm to penetrate right through," finished Sirius. "Good, Morrigan," he said, in a tone altogether a bit too like a professor approving a correct answer.

"That is, assuming our intelligence is correct, and it is a giant we'll be facing," she said. James, Sirius, and Remus all glanced at each other. In their reconnaissance on the junior Death Eater gang, under cover of the Invisibility Cloak, Remus and James had heard Florian mention 'the large problem' that 'Mudbloods and blood traitors' would be having later this week. It seemed to confirm their guesses.

"All right, Confunding it is," said Ariadne. "But I can't be a test subject, I have an Arithmancy test first period tomorrow."

Sirius glanced at James. "We can practice on Prongs, I doubt McGonagall will notice a huge difference," he said, while James squawked in protest.

Ariadne gave them all a look that indicated they were dismissed. Remus and James headed up to the boys' dormitory, yawning, but Sirius stayed put, waiting while Ariadne collected their notes. Ariadne saw him glancing toward the staircase to the dormitory. When Remus and James had disappeared, and they were left quite alone in the common room, he pulled Ariadne down onto him.

Ariadne didn't even have time to express her surprise before she was caught up in his smoldering, hungry kiss. He ran his hands down the bare leg that straddled him, and Ariadne's mind was quite empty of any thoughts besides wanting to continue, until it struck her suddenly where they were and what they were doing.

"Sirius—wait—" She pulled away from him and stuck out her arm so that her palm pressed against his chest, putting some distance between them.

Sirius looked a bit bewildered and remorseful. "I'm sorry, Ariadne, I should have asked you if you wanted to—"

"It's not that, I just—we shouldn't do this here," she blustered.

"We're alone," Sirius pointed out, with an air of obviousness. "And I was just thinking of snogging, not anything too X rated, in case someone does come down the stairs. No need to ruin the innocence of any first years."

Ariadne hesitated, trying to figure out how to explain her reservations. "Even if we are just snogging…I don't think we should let anyone see us."

Sirius held up his hands. "I understand your desire for privacy. Not everyone is so comfortable with public affection."

"It's not that, it's…well if they see us, won't it give them the wrong impression? After we went to the Yule Ball together, and everything?"

Now Sirius looked genuinely confused. "What do you mean, Ariadne?"

"Well, they'll probably think we're…together."

Sirius snorted. "Ariadne, at least eighty percent of Hogwarts has known or suspected we've been shagging since…probably before we even actually shagged." Ariadne opened her mouth to point out that shagging was not the same as dating, but Sirius anticipated her. "And trust me, the exact nature of that relationship does not matter to them in the slightest. Romantically involved, on-and-off, casual, betrothed, it's all the same to them and it all gets muddled in the gossip mill, anyway." He paused. "Remember the rumor that you were pregnant with my child?" he said pointedly.

Ariadne relented. Sirius was probably right, students were going to think whatever they wanted to, regardless of how she and Sirius truly defined their relationship. Still, something felt off, or slightly dishonest, about going with him to the Yule Ball as his official date, and also being seen snogging him in public, without actually being in a relationship with him.

Ariadne stared at her hands, now resting in both her and Sirius's laps (as they were so close together.) She remembered how she felt slow dancing with him at the Yule Ball, that dreamy, blissful feeling. She longed for the clarity of a textbook-correct answer given in class.

"I just don't know…what this is anymore," she murmured at her hands.

Sirius put a hand to her chin and gently tilted her face up to look at him. She saw concern in his eyes and instinctively understood how much he disliked it when she felt upset or frustrated, or any negative emotion. She understood how much that said about the depth of his feelings for her.

"Morrigan, don't worry yourself about it. Whatever we are, it's working for now, and that's all we need to know." He paused, and there was nothing but the sound of the last burnt embers crackling in the fireplace behind them and their mingled breathing. "We don't have to have everything figured out right away."

Ariadne grimaced. "I hate uncertainty."

"I know."

"Anyway, I apologize if I've kind of ruined the mood," she said, indicating how they were still intertwined.

"No need to apologize, Ariadne." He paused again. "But perhaps, a rendezvous tomorrow evening in the Room of Requirement…?"

"After a practice session," she said firmly, swinging her legs off of him.

"You drive a hard bargain, made all the more difficult by the fact that you're so damn gorgeous," sighed Sirius.

Ariadne's lips twitched but she suppressed a smile. "I'll see you tomorrow morning, Black."

He saluted her. "Bright and early."