CHAPTER 18

Lying Low

PRESENT

Aurelia could feel cold fingertips running along her bare stomach. Her smile turned into giggles as two hands gripped her sides. She opened her eyes to find Sirius hovering over her, a jacket draped over his shoulders. Lia propped herself up on her elbows and kissed the end of his nose.

"You're so cold!"

"I was just outside."

"It's that cold out there?"

Sirius answered her with a curt nod.

"You poor thing," said Aurelia. She scooted over, took his jacket off, and took hold of his shirt, gesturing for him to lie down where she had been. When he did, she took off his shoes and threw them on the floor. Grabbing the top sheet, she covered them both, wrapping her arms around his chest and snuggling up against him. "Don't worry, I'll keep you warm."

After several minutes of cuddling on the woman's part, Sirius said, "Lia?"

"Yeah?"

"You know what today is?"

She made a "nuh uh" sound in her throat and she felt Sirius reach into his pocket. "Good," he said with a smile. "I wanted this to be a surprise."

"What are you…Merlin's teeth! Sirius!"

He had lifted up a beautiful chain necklace with a hallowed blue pendant dangling from the end, a single Gubraithian flame burning within the crystal. It was exquisite, and certainly not made in England.

"What—"

"It's our five-year anniversary."

Aurelia stared at the gem hovering in front of her face, fascinated by its captivating flame.

"Sirius, you are aware that we were broken up for about two of those years, right?"

"Do you want this or not?" he asked, eyebrows risen in perfect replication of a professor expecting the right answer to a simple question.

"Yes! Yes, yes, yes!"

Sirius draped the jewel around her neck carefully and she felt it in between three of her fingers; it made them tingle. Beside her, her boyfriend was grinning in satisfaction.

It was not only the material gift that he gave her, but the fact that he remembered the exact date of their anniversary that was so thoughtful. And beyond recognition of this unbelievably uncharacteristically romantic act was that he counted the years they had been separated with the years they hadn't, as if he'd been thinking about being with her for the sum. That was what made goose bumps rise while the flame warmed her skin.

"Do you love it?" he asked innocently.

"I love you more."

He smiled and kissed her, but as soon as they began to lie back down on the bed, they heard a baby crying. Looking at one another, wide-eyed, Sirius said, "Aurelia, is there something you forgot to mention?"

Lia tried to push him off the bed. "You need to go! It's my other boyfriend!"

Sirius got out of bed and straightened his shirt.

"I'm all romantic and you still chose the other guy."

Aurelia got out of bed and ran to his closet as he left the room. She took out the first shirt she saw and pulled it on over her bra and shorts so that she would be somewhat presentable to a visitor. At least she could stick the upper portion of her body out the door if the need arose.

She went down the hallway and stuck her head into the front room to find Lily holding her son in her arms and Sirius putting a large bag on the couch, undoubtedly the notorious Baby Bag that was the subject of much ridicule by many due to its size.

Aurelia stepped into the room and Lily spotted her attire, saying, "Sorry if I interrupted anythi—sweet Merlin! Lia, what is that?"

Harry started crying once again because of the loudness of her voice. All three of the adults in the room winced.

"I'm such a terrible mother," said Lily.

Lia gestured for the baby and Lily handed him carefully over to his godmother. "You are not," she reassured the new mother with a pointed stare.

"Sirius, where'd she get it?" asked the drowsy-eyed Mrs. Potter, motioning to the middle of Lia's chest.

"I gave it to her."

Aurelia smiled and kissed the baby's forehead, rocking him gently in her arms. His crying died down to a few unhappy sniffles.

"You? I don't believe that."

"Little abnormal, no?" Lia agreed.

"What's the occasion?"

"Five-year anniversary," Sirius stated proudly.

Lily's eyebrows shot up in surprise and confusion. "Five years? But you—?"

"Yeah," the couple confessed in unison.

Lily apparently decided it wasn't worth arguing over, because she let them have their little romantic lie.

"I know this is last minute, but I desperately need someone to watch over Harry," she said. "James is recruiting right now, and I'm in need of a long, hot shower and a decent meal that isn't interrupted every minutes by a crying baby. No offense, my little angel."

Lily kissed Harry on the forehead while he lay in Lia's arms, quiet and still now.

"I know I shouldn't say anything, Lia, but you have quite a way with babies."

Her grin was undeniably mischievous, but Lia was watching Sirius, and his reaction was priceless. His eyes had gone wide and his mouth was hanging open slightly. Lia relinquished one of her arms from around Harry in order to push up on Sirius' chin, closing his mouth.

"Don't frighten the man, Lil. He might take the necklace back."

Sirius looked indignant, but he didn't say a word. Aurelia looked over at him, curious, but thought she should probably drop the conversation altogether. Perhaps Sirius didn't want children at all. She had never really spoken to him about it, after all. He had once asked her if she had been drinking her Contraceptive Brew, but that was just as a precaution as it only worked when both parties partook. The only reactions she had ever been able to gauge from him were mouth-dropping expressions of panic. Well, Lia said to herself, perhaps we'll see just what kind of parental skills Sirius has while we watch his godson.

She smirked at the thought.

Sirius looked down at the baby and winced. Aurelia almost laughed at the face he made, but quickly covered her mouth to conceal her smile when Sirius picked up his head and looked at her for pity. His eyes begged her to let him off the hook, and she was tempted to slap him, since he had said he would do it in the first place. She gave in after only twenty seconds of looking at those puppy dog eyes, but it was only because he had done his cute-as-a-four-year-old face. She grabbed the clean diaper out of his hand and knelt down in front of Harry.

"Is Unka Sirius afwaid of wading through your poopies, Hawwy?" Aurelia said in cuddly baby voice, Eskimo kissing her godson to make him giggle. "Yes, he is. Yes, he is."

Sirius shot her a reproving look before settling back in an armchair. "Yeah, but I'm man enough to admit it," he said shortly, still glaring.

"Admit what?" Aurelia asked expectantly. His eyes narrowed, but he said nothing. A glass bottle came flying through the room from the kitchen and into Sirius' outstretched hand. "Ah, yes. The great antics of manhood at its best," she said, commenting on his laziness. "Merlin, they should put you on display."

"I swear, Lia…" Sirius said. Putting his beer on the side table, he jumped up from his seat and nearly tackled his girlfriend to the ground. They laughed as their heads hit the floor, but Aurelia's eyelashes fluttered against Sirius' cheek for a moment and he must have taken that as a signal. Before she knew what was going on, her bra was unhooked and Sirius' tongue was in her mouth. She pushed his shoulders, or tried, but the strap of her bra had fallen down her arms and restricted their movement. She saw the only way to halt the 'attack' and took it.

"Ow!" Sirius said suddenly, pushing away form her as he clapped a hand over his mouth and shook his head like a bitten dog. "Bloody fucking hell, woman. What'd you have to bite off my tongue for?"

Aurelia sighed furiously while attempting to re-hook her bra. "Now that you've taught Harry the three things you're best at, maybe you should continue with the fourth. Perhaps the technique of a good Bat Boogey Hex, you fucking twit!"

"Oh, like he'll remember—what do you mean 'three best things'?"

Aurelia scooped up Harry's legs and swept the clean diaper underneath him, detaching the old one that was still on him. She knew Sirius wouldn't come near her now that she had a weapon. Babies are useful, she thought wickedly. "Being lazy, having sex and swearing," she stated blandly.

Sirius opened his mouth in disbelief, then closed it. "You can't say 'lazy' and 'sex' in the same sentence. Having sex is a lot of work."

"Not for you," she said.

"Than make it harder," Sirius countered suggestively, his eyes alight with mischief.

Aurelia picked Harry up into her arms and stood, Sirius following. "Make me," she said, her eyes narrowed. Without her noticing, he slipped a finger through the belt loop of her jeans and tugged her closer.

"I'm trying."

"Harry," Aurelia said, taking Sirius by surprise. They both looked down at the burping baby in her arms. The edge of his mouth curved upward as he pulled at a strand of Lia's hair.

"Isn't it about time for his nap?"

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, Sirius," Lia said, rolling her eyes, but despite her resolve she wasn't able to contain the smirk that formed on her lips.

"What? I was being literal. It's time for Harry to nap. Says so on the schedule Lil made up."

In order to drive the point home, Sirius held up the piece of paper Lily had left with them to make sure Harry's timetable wasn't ruined. Certain that Lily would rather Harry have a nap now than him crying his way home to Godric's Hallow, she gave in. She brought him to the crib that they had set up with an assembling charm a couple hours before and laid him down after kissing his cheek.

"Hey, little one," said Lia quietly. "Go to sleep so that your Uncle Sirius can have a go at me."

She felt a sharp slap on her rump for that comment.

"And you say I've got the filthy mouth."

Lia turned around to a smirking Sirius. She walked forward, closing the space between them, and captured his lip in between her teeth. Her tongue slid across its length and then she released it, stepping back a bit.

"How do you do this to me?" he asked, rubbing up against her frame and showing her just how ready he was to 'have a go.'

She smiled easily. "I'm a unique little butterfly."

"You're a unique something," Sirius agreed, placing his arms on her hips, "but Merlin knows you're not a butterfly."

"What am I then?" she asked as they made their way up the staircase.

The edge of Sirius' mouth lifted slightly. "A lioness."

Darkness had always been a delight for Silvia, a release from the mundane world. She had embraced it as an old friend when she was old enough to know that the light was a lie…when she was old enough to know a better way. But she had never really considered something.

"Hello, luv," she whispered as she walked up to the grave site. "Merlin, you're looking peaky, aren't you?"

She knelt down into the wet ground. The rain had come this morning, but Silvia knew it hadn't come for her. It never would. She ran her fingers over the slick surface of the gravestone, tracing the letter of his name. E…V…A…N…

"What did I do?" she asked. "It's not like you can forgive me… 'Forgive me for what?' You cheeky little bastard. You know what for! I started this hogwash. Well, actually, Bella did, but I was a key influence in getting you involved. If I hadn't, maybe you'd still be alive.

"I know you make your own choices, Evan. I'm perfectly aware of that. I just… miss you. Like nothing else I've ever loved in my life.

"Don't take this the wrong way, luv, but maybe you're better off in the ground than out here. It's going to get very unpleasant soon, and I think I'd rather be down there with you than up here… I can just feel it, alright?

"It's all rubbish, anyway. When you left, everything turned to ash. And you're a bastard for making promises you couldn't keep! …Oh, you think so, do you? Well then, help me understand."

She quieted, tilting her head as if trying very hard to listen to someone who had just insulted her.

"I still don't get it," she said, miserable.

She sat there for several more hours beside her lover's tomb, talking to him as if he were sitting across the mound of dirt from her.

Yes, Silvia had always loved the dark, but she had never considered what it would be like in perpetual darkness—something even her dead boyfriend wasn't able to explain to her.

"Severus told Dumbledore," Lily said evenly. "Why shouldn't we trust him? He's not telling us to sacrifice a virgin, for heaven's sake. We're just going into hiding."

Headquarters was quiet and somber, and the only noises throughout the place were their voices deep in conversation.

"Severus is not notorious for his trustworthiness, Lil." Lia was sitting across from the Potters. "I know you were friends once, but he betrayed his master already. Who's to say he won't betray Dumbledore?"

Remus spoke up finally, as he had been silent the entire debate. "Perhaps we shouldn't be so hard on Severus. He's been true to his word thus far. Perhaps he's truly had a change of heart."

Everyone looked at him in shock. A few of them were even fuming.

Hastily, he clarified. "All I meant was, what harm could it do for Lily, James and Harry to go into hiding? The Longbottoms, as well? Only good can come from it."

Lily bounced Harry on her lap gently. Lia leaned into Sirius' form. Remus fidgeted. Peter was silent, but his hands were shaking just slightly. James was the only one to speak up.

"Remus is right. We're going into hiding. The Prophecy could be codswallop, but I'd rather not take a chance with my son's life." He looked pointedly at Lia, who held up her hands in surrender. "So, who's for revelry? Our lives are going to be extremely dull for a good long while."

"Revelries," Sirius said, jumping up from the morose meeting, nearly landing Lia on the floor. He had been quiet throughout the entirety of the meeting, and Lia had taken notice of his silence. She wondered at it, the fact that he had had nothing to say—especially because he always had something to say.

They made plans to go over to the Potters for one last hurrah before the big day, then they left headquarters. Sirius was walking Aurelia out to the street corner where they could Apparate when he finally spoke about something other than partying.

"I don't know about that I trust myself to be James and Lily's Secret Keeper," he said, shocking Aurelia out of her boots. "Would you trust me with something as important as this?"

"Dear heart," she said without hesitation, "I would trust you with all our lives."

He looked down at her, his gray eyes searching her face for any signs of witticism. There weren't any.

"I made a promise once that I didn't keep," said Sirius, his eyes now downcast searching the road before him. "To you."

"That promise is in the past."

"But it was a promise I made to someone who meant the world to me. If I couldn't keep one then, how does everyone expect me to—"

"Alright," Lia said, holding a finger up to his lips. "It's my turn to talk now, hm?" She brought her hand down to her side. They were in the middle of this Muggle street, but she didn't really care. Sirius had his puppy dog eyes staring down at her. "Breaking that promise was yours to break. I've realized that now. There was no reason that I should have been so terrified of my father for finding out about you. You are the kindest and most good-hearted man I know, and also the handsomest," she added, smirking. "I have absolutely no doubt that you will be the best Secret Keeper for James, Lily and Harry, because you are the most loyal friend a person can have and it would never even cross your mind to betray them."

Sirius blinked once. Twice. Thrice. He looked surprised; he looked almost… happy, but there was this guardedness to his eyes. "Just out of curiosity," he asked, "why were you visiting your father when I recruited you?"

Aurelia was taken aback. She fluttered her eyelashes and stared at him. "Sirius, what are you on about?"

"Please, just answer the question."

He sounded insistent, so she decided it would undoubtedly turn into a fight if she didn't respond.

Lia sighed. "I was… Oh, Sirius, this is so embarrassing."

The guard did not leave his eyes as he cooed, "Just tell me."

"I was there to tell him off."

"To tell him—?"

"He had sent me a letter while I was in Italy, and it had said something about how I needed to meet a nice, strong Italian wizard. Then he said, 'Anything's better than that Black bastard you were with at school.'" Sirius' eyes lit up, but Lia held up a hand so that she could finish. "So I wrote him back a scathing howler about what a horrible father he was and how you were ten times the man he was. I also might have slipped a hex into the letter so that when he closed it, something akin to fairy dust would shower him and stick to his skin and hair semi-permanently."

Sirius' bark of laughter could be heard aways down the street. "You really did that?"

"Yes, and I was going to visit him to really drive the point home that he can mind his own damn business when you showed up."

Sirius' eyes started to thaw. "When did you…? How did you…?"

"Know?" Aurelia's eyes left Sirius' and came to rest on the sidewalk. "I knew the moment you yelled it at me in your dorm seventh year. I was just so stubborn… I didn't want to tell you that you were right, because that would have made me exactly what everyone thought of me: weak and pathetic."

Sirius shook his head, his gray eyes fathomless. He lifted Aurelia's chin with his index finger and kissed her gently on the lips. It was sweet… Sirius had honeyed words, but he wasn't normally sweet. "You are not weak nor are you pathetic. You never have been, and anyone who thinks differently can bugger off."

Lia smiled from a place deep inside her. "You are a wonderful man and a great wizard."

"I like to think so," he said, smirking. He offered her his hand and, when she took it, they Apparated.

"Sirius, where are we?"

It was pitch black and all she could feel, hear or see was Sirius' hand in her own. She heard a whispered, "Lumos," and a light began to shine from the tip of Sirius' wand. As the light became brighter and her eyes adjusted, she realized he was before her on one knee. Aurelia hardly knew what to say, so she just brought her unoccupied hand up to her mouth.

"Good, I was going to ask you to keep your mouth shut," Sirius said, grinning as she made to whack him, but he deftly moved out of the way of the strike. "Lia, you have been the most irksome, the most illogical, the most irritating, and the most impossible person I have ever had the absolute pleasure of knowing. But for every flaw, you have a million beautiful, unique qualities. You have given me every right to hate you, but despite that, you are the only person that I have ever fallen for, and fallen so hard and so deeply that I cannot imagine my life without you in it—and I've tried, luv. It didn't work out for me."

"Nor me," she whispered breathlessly.

Sirius smiled. "When we broke up, I told Remus I had fallen for you. He said, 'If you pretend not to care, maybe after a while you'll start not to.' So I tried to be without you. I tried not to care. But do you have any idea, Lia, how hard it is not to care about you?" Tears were sliding down Aurelia's cheeks. "You may be infuriating, but you are also independent, inspiring, intelligent, intrepid… You are a beautiful mixture of qualities in an even more beautiful package. Lia… will you—"

"Yes!"

Sirius groaned, hanging his head and then looking up at Aurelia. "I didn't even get to ask the question!"

"YES YES YES!" Lia said, not caring in the slightest that he was perturbed. She dragged him up by his shirt, put her hands on either side of his face and kissed him hard on the mouth. When she backed away, he was grinning from ear to ear.

"Merlin's beard!" Lily gasped, staring at Aurelia's left hand as they walked into the Potter's house. James rounded a corner and called, "Whassat?" Obviously, he had gotten into the Ogden's Old Firewhiskey without waiting for his comrades. "Lia and Sirius are engaged!"

Remus and Peter looked up from the couches in the living room to stare at the pair of them.

"Alright, that's enough," Sirius said, waving his hands at them all. "Nothing to see here, move it along."

"Nothing to see?" Lily screeched at an octave a bit too high for normal human hears.

Aurelia left Sirius at the door and walked up to Lily, holding out her hand. Lily gushed about how beautiful the ring was and how she was so happy for them. Aurelia's smile could not have gotten any wider. She glanced back at Sirius, whose friends were congratulating him with slaps on the back and—in James' case—tousling his hair. They glanced at each other for a moment, smiling, before returning their attention to their friends.

Over dinner and drinks, Lily would not stop talking Aurelia's ear off about the wedding, in the hopes that she would suddenly be able to produce a date, colors, flower arrangements and a venue off the top of her head. When she looked at Sirius for support, he just rolled his eyes and said, "We're eloping." Despite his vehemence, Lily would not take that as a credible answer.

"Lia?" she asked, hope still shining in her eyes.

"We're eloping in the Shrieking Shack," said Lia, "and no one is invited."

Lily choked on her pumpkin juice at the same time Remus' eyes widened to their full extent and James pounded on the table, tipping over their third bottle of Firewhiskey, stating loudly, "We accept your invitation!"

Everyone started howling with laughter, expect Lily, who joined in a few moments later because she was still choking, and Peter, who had been acting very strange all night anyway so no one really took much notice of it, especially when Harry started to cry from all the ruckus.

When they said goodbye at the door, Lia hugged Lily and James and kissed Harry on the cheek. "Good night, my sweet," she said. Rubbing her nose against his face, Harry giggled. "Love you all!"

Sirius wrapped his arm around her and they walked to the edge of the lane before Apparating back to Sirius' place.

The Dark Lord glanced over his Death Eaters without enthusiasm. He was void of it, you see. Every little piece of him that was once human no longer was. He had once been a vibrant, thoroughly evil creature. But how odd it was that with each passing day he was beginning to be, simply, less.

"Yaxley, Rodolphus, Rabastan, Dolohov and Travers," their lord said coolly. "I have a task for you."

Silvia watched lazily as they walked up to the throne and knelt before him. She wondered when this meeting would end, so she could get back to her own tasks. Not the Dark Lord's task, mind you, her own.

"Since we now know, thanks to Peter, that the two families we must concern ourselves with are the Potters and the Longbottoms and that their little stunt of creating Fedilius Charms around their houses is being implemented, you will go to the Longbottom's residence and capture them before the charm is in place. We don't know when it is happening, but we know it is today. You will leave immediately following this meeting.

"Yes, my lord," they all said in unison.

They sounded ridiculous.

"Unfortunately, Peter came to us too late to head off the Potters. Their Fedilius Charm is already in place. Now is the time to conjure up a plan as to how we can infiltrate their residence. Does anyone have any ideas?"

Silvia smirked as she glanced at the shrinking figure that was Peter Pettigrew.

"Anyone?"

"My lord, I have a proposal," said Silvia, waiting for approval before she continued. Voldemort's head nodded slightly. "Why don't we utilize the little rat we acquired?" Pettigrew's fidgeting came to a halt, and he looked up at the Dark Lord. "We could have little Peter here make some suggestions to his friends Black and Potter that the werewolf is actually a Death Eater. Then they will be forced to switch Secret Keepers from Black to Peter. No muss, no fuss."

"Why don't we just torture it out of Black?" suggested Rodolphus.

"Because he loves the rudding Potters, you idiot. He won't give them up, not even if it meant going insane."

"Silvia, pet," the Dark Lord said, "come forward." She grasped at the railing she had been leaning on in order to push herself up and walked toward the throne and her master sitting in it, kneeling when requisite. "You have a very good strategy. I think we will implement it.

"However, some of your fellow Death Eaters have informed me that yesterday you attempted to attack a pureblood wizard in the streets of Knockturn Alley. Is this true?"

"Yes, my lord," she answered, not having a reason to lie to him. He would know anyway.

"They also tell me that you shot a hex at Rodolphus just this morning."

"It missed, my lord."

"Did it miss on purpose?" Silvia looked up at her lord and smiled wickedly. In an unnatural show of character, Voldemort mirrored her expression. "Though I admire your spirit, Silvia, I will not have pureblood wizards who have not declared themselves for either side be attacked on the streets."

"Those who have not declared themselves are just as guilty as those who have declared themselves for the other side, my lord."

"Too right you are, Silvia. Nevertheless, they may be useful in days to come. So, today you will stay with Regulus until this… fit… you're in has been resolved."

Silvia's jaw clenched, but she managed to get out a, "Yes, my lord," before he noticed her fury.

"Stop fussing, Frank," said Augusta Longbottom in a stern and irritated voice, and with another quick flick of her wand, a light flew from the tip and seemed to surround the entire building that they stood next to and then vanished from sight, along with the entire house. All five placed their wands back into their respective areas and gazed at the non-evidence of what they had just spent three hours creating.

"Well, I think she'll hold," Sirius said with a grin, but the eldest Longbottom sentenced the comic-relief to death with one penetrating stare.

Augusta grabbed her handbag from the ground and eyed her son and daughter-in-law carefully. "Do you want these two to be able to get in?"

Frank and Alice looked right, where Sirius and Aurelia stood awkwardly. A slight shake of her head indicated that Aurelia had no intention of getting into the Longbottom's house after the spell had been cast, and Alice took this sign as it was.

"No," she replied. "I don't expect they'll need to—"

But Augusta was already whispering the words into their ears quietly, then quickly walked up the steps and, to their eyes, disappeared. The couple turned to them now and said, "We really can't thank you enough."

Aurelia took Frank's hand in her own and smiled. "It was noth—"

Five loud bangs hit their ear drums in a consecutive manner and all heads turned towards the street with surprise. Hooded figures stood before them, their wands held out threateningly. Aurelia shouted at the Longbottoms to run as Sirius shoved them forward into the place where their house had stood moments ago, and still remained for them. Aurelia shot her hand into her back pocket and grasped her wand as she ducked from a jet of green light. Losing her footing, she did a summersault across the ground while pulling out her weapon and, when right-side-up again, aimed at the first black-clad thing she saw. A fountain of red light burst from her wand, but flew past its intended target. The force from the blast swept off the hood though, and Aurelia recognized the Death Eater; Dolohov's ugly face snarled as he sent another curse hurtling towards her.

She was shocked to find she was still in one piece after scrambling away from three curses aimed at her chest. Then, she shot a Body Bind at the closest, and as she lifted her wand to fire again, ropes flung themselves around her body. Struggling fiercely in their hold, she could do nothing besides cringe as Sirius aimed haphazardly in her direction and the ropes were reduced to ashes. The skin on her arms burned painfully, but she didn't waste a second to hurl a jinx at Yaxley, who flew his lean body quickly out of its path. A furious green light rushed through the air, and Aurelia was forced again to the ground. Holding up her wand while her face hit the dirt, she screamed, "Diffindo!"

Blood splattered across the pavement inches from her head and Yaxley was quickly shielded by Rabastan Lestrange, whose brother was currently engaged in a violent duel with Sirius. It was seconds before she was flung into the air, hitting the ground skidding across the sidewalk. She felt skin tear but ignored whatever sting it caused, rolling to her opposite side to get a better look at her position. Wand raised, she managed to stupefy the closest Death Eater, who happened to be Rodolphus. Sirius stood confused for a moment, staring as his opponent fell to the ground beside Aurelia, then ran at the unhindered Travers and tackled him to the pavement. Aurelia crouched behind the bulkier Lestrange and shot continuous curses at the other two.

They were thinking the same thing, Sirius and her. There was no possible way they would get out of this alive if they stayed for much longer. They needed to get out as quickly as possible, but they couldn't risk going back to either of their places. Silvia knew where they lived and had almost certainly given out those specs of information. They needed some place far away, yet close enough to get home without trouble, with proper concealment that would be unsuspected. She could think of no such place, but then again, it was difficult to think while dealing with the blurred vision of a Conjunctivitis Curse and fighting off two men who were intent upon killing her.

"Lia!" Sirius shouted over the fray as she heard a large thump and a motionless dark pile came into view a few feet away. She tried to look up into the light of the setting sun to confirm which of the two struggling silhouettes was which. She aimed and shot a Disarming Spell at the taller of the two, and immediately regretted her decision as she heard Sirius' unmistakable yelp. His wand flew out of his hand and he himself was punted backwards by an invisible boot. Rabastan, or Yaxley, turned on her.

Shit, shit, shit.

She held out her wand, but he kicked it out of her hand before she could see his foot descending. She gasped at the pang that shot up her arm and figured he must have been wearing some sort of metal attached to his feet. He continued to crush her hand, smashing the bones with a satisfying and sickening crunch. She cried out, but that was all the sound her lungs could carry. Cold hands gripped her neck with ferocious force and she tried in vain to suck in just a little more air. Yaxley pulled her up and grinned menacingly at her desperation. He lifted her off the ground, pointing his wand inches from her chest and…fell with a loud moan to the ground. Once her feet had resettled, she kicked him again, but this time in the face, doubling the amount of blood gushing from his nose.

"Sirius!" she shouted, holding her right hand and fumbling across the ground for her wand. The hazy vision was dimming into a soft blur. She saw a figure running towards her. He crouched down, low enough so that she could see his face. He caught her wand for her, and grasped her forearm. Looking up, tears stinging her eyes, Aurelia muttered, "A place they'd never expect."

Several curses, their colors fused together, flew over their heads as they grasped the peaceful darkness they'd entered into. Aurelia held tightly to Sirius' arm with the only hand that had feeling as their knees buckled underneath the strain of force as they Apparated.

She would have toppled onto the floor had Sirius not been holding fast to her. He led her onto a soft surface she recognized as a mattress and she fell back on it, holding her broken hand to her chest. Cringing in pain as Sirius took it into his own, she asked, "How bad is it?"

"Ah," he said softly. "It's not so bad. It'll need some mending, but you'll live."

"Brilliant," Aurelia said, pouting.

Sirius pulled her into a sitting position, though she would much rather have stayed where she was, rubbing her face against the silky bed sheets. "Probably need some potion for those burns, too. They were a bit overzealous today, don't you think? Five against two?"

"Damn Death Eaters," she snarled, touching the place on her forehead where Sirius' fingers examined the cut.

"Don't want to be saying that in here, luv," he cautioned.

"Why? Where—"

Aurelia looked up to see the wall behind the bed. All the walls were covered with photographs and Muggle posters. Faded shades of maroon and gold, images of roaring lions and motionless motorcycles presented themselves around the room. It was luminous with color; not only the effect of the elegant chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Just from the look of it, she had no doubts that they had Apparated into the house of the Blacks.

Well, surely they'd never expect us to be here, she conceded grudgingly.

She gazed to her left where she found a moving picture of four of her favorite people in the world; she grinned as they waved at her. Moving her eyes vertically, she spotted a few more stationary posters, several of which exhibited scandalously-dressed women winking into space.

"Swimsuit models, Sirius?" she asked, rolling her eyes. "Honestly…"

Sirius followed her gaze and spotted the objects of her irritation; he grinned. "I was sixteen at the time, not to mention under full Pureblood Rebellion. What did you expect? Rainbows and butterflies?"

"Well, I should hope not," she said, giving him a half-smirk. "But I didn't expect naked women."

He raised a finger and pointedly corrected, "Half naked. And may I ask why you didn't expect that?"

Aurelia glared. "I guess I'd forgotten how indecent you were."

"Are," Sirius amended. He nearly closed the gap between their faces, making it impossible for her to remove him from her line of sight. He wrapped one hand around her waist to hook her back and the other slid up into her hair; their lips joined for mere seconds before Sirius glided them slowly down her neck, then farther down.

"Wait. Stop, Sirius!" ordered Aurelia, trying to push him away with one hand. "I'm tired…and I'm all hot and sweaty."

He gave her a meaningful look before saying, "You're right." He gently laid her down on the bed and took off her shoes one at a time. "We should definitely get you out of those steaming clothes."

Aurelia quickly tried to sit up, but toppled over into the sheets again.

"Sirius, no!" she whispered in a firm tone. "Not here! This is your parent's house!"

"So?" There was little interest and no concern in his reply while he removed her socks.

"Are they at home?" She sounded close to hysterical.

Sirius shrugged. "Probably."

He climbed onto the bed, straddling her, and unzipped her jacket. She pummeled his thigh with her good hand.

"Sirius, please stop!" she pleaded. "I'm not doing this with your parents in the house!"

"Why not?" he asked, grinning mischievously and carefully pulling off her jacket. "It'd make them go batty."

Aurelia calculated the situation and stared at his form above her while he pulled his shirt over his head to reveal that tantalizing bare chest.

"You mean—you and I—we'd—and they'd—?" Her sentence was somewhat unintelligible due to her inability to think clearly any longer.

"Exactly."

As he unbuttoned her blouse, she sighed. "Fine. But mind my hand. And my scratches," she added when he rubbed against a few scrapes that decorated her stomach.

"Apologies, luv."

He slipped her out of her blouse and rubbed his cheek against hers, fingering a cut on her neck that had bled. His tongue trailed its length, sprouting goose-bumps in its tracks.

"You have a thing for blood, Black," she whispered, her hand traveling down to his trousers to remove the belt.

"Just yours," he breathed in her ear.

She played in his hair while he slid off her jeans, making her shiver at the cold that surrounded her body. Pulling him close, their chests and stomachs rubbing, they kissed quickly on the lips and then Sirius resumed his previous work. Aurelia gripped the sheets for something to hold onto and Sirius' nose and lips drifted down the valley between her breasts to her midriff. His hands gripped the sides of each ribcage and she moaned loudly as his mouth closed over the skin below her navel. He fingered the black lace of her knickers, experimenting, testing her reactions. None were taken as a deterrent.

The only noise was the quietly exhaled "Sirius…" Her breathing had sped up and he could feel her beating pulse beneath his hands. He followed the thin strap of fabric and unhooked her bra, but before he could slide the straps off her shoulders he felt her pelvis push into his. He gave a heavy grunt, which made Aurelia smirk. She put her hand on the back of his neck and pulled him into her mouth. Eyes closed, she could feel him stripping her down even farther; the straps of her bra glided down her arms and then their touch disappeared.

Sirius let her fingers stroke the muscles on his back as they worked, moving up and down. He felt her hard grip as he allowed himself to be less than gentle, and he felt nails digging into his skin once he'd forgotten himself. He took hold of the undersides of her thighs and pushed her further onto the bed. Then he pressed his body against hers, pinning both wrists to the mattress—she must have been ignoring the pain, but, Merlin, he loved hearing her moan beneath him. Despite his weight, her crest brought both of them into the air, their bodies so close they felt each other's hip bones beneath the skin.

Two pairs of eyes stared lustily into familiar expanses, stretching too far into each other to clearly distinguish to which each belonged.

"Honestly, this isn't necessary."

Regulus looked up at the woman that was sprawled lazily across his bed. She had been that way for the last ten minutes after a rather violent fidgeting attack. From the position he held in a chair across the room, he had quite a good view of her. "No, really it is. They're even paying me."

"I don't need a nanny," Silvia countered, glaring out of the corner of her eyes, too bored to actually move. Sometimes, she really hated her friends and how seemingly understanding of her personality they were.

He made a noise like "hmph" and turned another page in his book without so much as looking at her. Perhaps that was why the Dark Lord had coerced her into visiting his house today; Regulus wasn't likely to let her get out of hand. Apparently several years of his brother had taught him to handle almost anything.

There were a few more minutes of silence before she thought to break it again. "Aren't you required to keep me entertained as a paid nanny, then?"

"Bella said nothing about anything but making sure you don't try and kill another wizard. And everyone knows the stunt you pulled on Rodolphus." He offered her a pointed stare before returning to his reading material.

She simply rolled her eyes. "I missed anyway, so it's really nothing to worry about. Besides, I'm bored to tears here, Reggie!"

Regulus glared at the hated nickname, which got the desired effect. "Then perhaps we'll take a walk, or here: learn something." He tossed a book at her, letting it land with a resounding thump on the covers around her.

In response, she pushed it away and faced the wall, trying to find any imperfections to count. This had happened several times already. Her behavior was deemed irresponsible and irrational and so her friends had set to watching her most days to make certain she did nothing erratic. Apparently it was Regulus' turn, with a little induced bribery.

Squinting her eyes, Silvia thought one of the cracks looked like a head. A slight tilt of her head rendered the image to look more familiar. It had a nose that she recognized and it seemed to take on a particularly tan tone. She could almost see black hair if she screwed one of her eyes up. She smiled. "How're you, luv?" she whispered, giggling at the response she received.

Regulus was either too involved in his reading or didn't hear her to comment on any of the exchange.

"You'll never believe what I got past Rodolphus."

Her one-sided conversation went on for a stretch before a loud noise emitted from outside the room. Sitting upright she looked at Regulus. She gave him a look that said, 'Can we investigate that?' and he stood up as a sign of approval.

Another thump led them to one particular room in the hallway. "Whose room is this?"

"My brothers'."

"Sirius?" her eyes widened disbelievingly and excited with the prospect of possibly invoking harm to him.

Regulus gave her an annoyed look. "Is there another one I don't know about?"

She looked between the door and the hallway leading towards the stairs, trying to decide the best action to take. "You're brother's not home is he?"

"No. Why?"

A particularly loud groan emitted through the wooden surface that her ear was pressed against. She jumped back and glared at the offending door hoping for it to penetrate to the occupant within.

"Reggie, I think we should take that walk you suggested," Silvia grabbed his arm and led him steadily away from the door. Under her breath all the while muttering, "Before I go kill someone. Namely, you're whore of a brother."

They had started down the stairs, Silvia thinking up ways to maim the other Black, when a loud piercing scream filled the air. They rushed down the rest of the way.

Walburga Black sat at the polished wooden table, sipping at the cup of steaming hot tea. She breathed into the cup, inhaling the intoxicating scent as she felt the hot liquid rush over her lips and tongue. Fall's cold touch was just slimming down the ounces of warmth that summer had held. She pulled at the ancient shawl she had wrapped around her shoulders and set her tea cup down onto the carved mahogany.

She heard a crack fill the silence of the room, but did not flinch as she raised her cup again.

"Kreacher, could you—AHH!"

The crack had most definitely not been from Kreacher.

A mere foot in front of her, atop her beautiful mahogany tabletop, lay two persons whom she loathed. Her eldest son, half-dressed and looking very pleased with himself, was pressed against the wood by a slender girl wearing next-to-nothing, and that next-to-nothing was the most risqué undergarments she had ever laid eyes on. Her hands were placed above his head and she saw a wand clenched in her son's fist which was close to whitening, the other making figurates in her hair. They parted mouths for a moment to look her way; she spotted in ferocity that satisfied grin on her blood traitorous son's face at her expression.

Two cracks sounded through the room and they were gone. She heard a small shuffling of feet behind her.

"You called for Kreacher, mistress?"

Walburga screamed, pointing a feeble finger at the middle of the table where the Black family name had just been shamelessly disgraced. She heard thudding footfalls and the creak of the stairs.

"Mum?" Regulus asked from the doorway.

Her whole arm was shaking by now and she just noticed that the contents of her tea cup had spilled down her front.