Mad Eye Moody

Róisín approached the elevator leading to the Auror Department and paused by the button, leaning on one crutch while she tried to reach the button with her free hand - on which she balanced her other crutch. She huffed in frustration as she couldn't reach the button and nearly dropped her crutch on the floor.

"Dammit!" she swore, a panic rising in her chest as she was going to be late to the Concealment and Disguise class if she didn't hurry up. She took a deep breath, wincing in pain as her broken ankle made its presence abundantly clear.

"Róisín!" a man's voice called from behind her. She tried to turn around but the man caught up to her before she had the chance.

Sirius approached her with a smile and casually reached past her to push the elevator button.

"How are you feeling?" he asked. His misty, grey eyes held her captive for a moment until the silence was broken by the elevator's arrival, and Sirius looked away and opened the elevator door for her. She noticed then that today he had opted for a dark, velvet green jacket with black trousers and a black shirt. She also noticed again that delicious scent of sweet honey and musky earth as he moved past her into the elevator.

"I'm good," she replied hastily, making her way into the carriage as gracefully as she could (which was not much).

"Does the painkiller potion still make you feel woozy?" Sirius asked as the elevator began to move.

"No - why?"

"Nothing - just that you seem off this morning."

Róisín caught herself. He was referring to how she kept gazing at him like a forlorn puppy.

"I'm fine," she said, clearing her throat. "Well, maybe a little woozy. But not so bad that I would miss class. Speaking of - who's teaching us today?"

"Ah, that would be Alistor Moody - I'm sure you probably know him by his more commonly used nickname-"

"Mad Eye Moody - trust me, he's famous beyond just Britain," Róisín replied with a smile. Sirius raised his eyebrows and she added sheepishly, "I'm a huge fan of his work."

"He is a fantastic Auror, I'll grant you that," Sirius said with a short laugh. "I didn't reaise he had quite such a fan following!"

It felt equally exhilarating and intimidating being in the same room as Moody. His escapades were truly legendary and Róisín's class could do nothing more than listen intently to his every word.

A large, stocky man, Moody always seemed to have one eye on you and one eye scanning the room - which was quite literally the case, because his bright blue glass eye kept looking the opposite way from his only real eye. Róisín didn't know which one to look at on the infrequent occasion he made eye contact with her.

Moody represented everything she wanted to be as an Auror. Unfearing, inspiring, brave, diligent... she truly idolized him. As he gave a detailed explainer on the subject of the day's class, Róisín couldn't help letting her eyes drift away from Moody and towards Sirius and Potter standing by the edge of the room, both listening intently to Moody. She absently wondered if they felt the same career nerves as she did as a young Auror. They both seemed so confident and self-sure - if Róisín ever seemed that way, it was always an act.

Who was Potter married to? Róisín wondered whether it would kill Cynthia to find out. She admitted, she could see the appeal - Potter was tall, lanky, with dark hair and a devilishly charming smile - but he was a bit too smooth, he was the obvious choice. Cynthia always went for the obvious men.

But Sirius... he was different. A tiny bit shorter than Potter, Sirius' dark brown hair fell in long curls around his face and a thick moustache rested on his top lip. He was loud and boisterous and chaotic all over, with his ridiculous outfit choices and his flashy golden pocket watch. Róisín had no idea what vibe he was going for - his outfit screamed Victorian, but his music taste screamed modern Muggle. Who was he trying to impress? Why did it seem that he was always trying to impress everyone?

Maybe it was an act, she reasoned. Or maybe there was some tragic backstory which fed into his obvious, insatiable desire to be liked. That irked her, alright, but at the same time, she found his antics so amusing, she had to admit that, if it was an act, it was a damn convincing one. Surely, there had to be a softie under that cavalier exterior. Perhaps Róisín just needed to dig deeper.

In that moment, Sirius' grey eyes fell on Róisín. She felt her stomach twist as he shot her a tiny wink, and she returned a thin smile. A quiet giggle came from behind her, and she turned subtly to notice another girl in her class - Amelia Hare - also looking directly at Sirius.

Róisín looked back at Sirius, who was grinning at Amelia, and it dawned on her... Suddenly deeply embarrassed, she looked down at her palms and fiddled with her cuticles. Sirius hadn't winked at her, but at Amelia.

Of course it was Amelia. She was admittedly stunning, with thick, dark brown hair all the way down to her shoulders and olive skin which was perpetually dewy in the most sexy way possible. The girls had never been close but Róisín had always been envious of Amelia's charms and good looks - it seemed that, at one point or another, every guy in the class had had a crush on her. Of course Sirius would notice her first.

Come to think of it... Róisín and Cynthia had been talking to Amelia a lot that night in the Leaky Cauldron, when Cynthia was convinced that Sirius had been checking out Róisín all night... It was so obvious now - he had been looking at Amelia all night long, hadn't he?

Moody's voice bluntly pulled Róisín out of her reverie.

"You - there - with the crutches - what's your name?" he asked.

"Róisín," she replied hastily. "Róisín Rí."

"I'm pairing you with - next to you - what's your name?"

"Cynthia," said Cynthia breathlessly. She was also a huge Moody fan. "Sir."

"No need for all those formalities now," Moody replied, handing Róisín two cards. "Not sure how much you've been listening, Rí, but these cards have character descriptions written on the back which you will have to use to convince Cynthia that you are someone you're not. We won't be actually transfiguring today, so don't worry about falling behind because of your leg."

Róisín took the cards and quickly broke eye contact with Moody, now embarrassed for a totally new reason - that her first ever interaction with the celebrity Auror had gone so poorly. Of course he had caught her staring at Sirius - he had a magical glass eye, for Merlin's sake!

She gave Cynthia the second card and flipped hers over to begin examining it.

Meryll Elms. Male. 43 y/o. Apothecary owner. Hogwarts house: Hufflepuff. Married with two boys and one girl. All three children attend Hogwarts in Ravenclaw House.

Moody said, "Memorise what is written on the front of your cards and then flip them over and hand them to your partner. On the back are questions which they will use to interrogate you and test your ability to quickly adorn a false identity."

Róisín and Cynthia swapped cards, but didn't bother interrogating each other.

"I saw Amelia making eyes at Sirius," Róisín whispered with an eye roll.

"Oh, so you're on first name basis with him now?" Cynthia asked, with a cheeky grin. Róisín used her good foot to kick her friend.

"Hey!" Cynthia protested. "I know that you like a bad boy, even if you pretend not to. Trust me, Amelia will flirt with anyone. I wouldn't worry about her."

Róisín spotted Sirius approaching them and hastily asked, "Um - Cynthia - what is your name?"

Cynthia looked confused for a moment, but then quickly caught up and splurted, "Er - my name - my name is Betty."

Sirius was now standing right next to them, observing their faux interrogation.

"What do you do?" Róisín asked.

"I own a bakery shop in Hogsmeade."

Sirius interrupted, "Let's see you ask Róisín some questions now, Cynthia."

Cynthia dipped her head down to her card, scanning for a question. "Um... Róisín, how many children do you have?"

Róisín froze. Meryll Elms. 43. Hufflepuff. Children in Ravenclaw, but... how many?

"I have... four children," she replied hesitantly. Cynthia and Sirius checked the flip side of the card and Cynthia slowly shook her head.

"Sorry, girl, that's wrong - your guy has three kids," she said.

Róisín huffed, utterly embarrassed at forgetting a tiny detail like that - and right in front of Sirius too!

"Sorry - the painkiller potions must be making me more muggy than I realised," she said, attempting a casual laugh. Sirius just offered a small smile and then moved on to the next pair, which was Amelia and her class partner.

Róisín watched them from a distance, noticing the way that Sirius hunched behind Amelia and read the card over her shoulders, the way Amelia curled a lock of her effortlessly long hair around her finger, beaming at Sirius. She felt that unfamiliar, sickly feeling rise in her stomach again and fill her belly.

No, no! she told herself. Just because Sirius had been nice enough to Floo her back home and offer her private dueling lessons once her leg had healed didn't mean anything beyond what it was: him just being nice. Besides, he was her tutor. Even if it wasn't strictly against the rules, she knew it was wrong and she couldn't risk putting her studies at risk. She had worked so hard to get to where she was. She didn't need to get distracted by a pretty English boy.

Oh, but he was so pretty.