Tears of the Ages

CHAPTER IIX - Ice and Fire

She was cold. So cold...

All around her she could feel ice rubbing against her bare skin. Every direction she looked, she found still darkness before her. Then she felt hands over her eyes. They were rough and callused, but comfortingly so. Aurelia turned around and her vision was restored as she met a pair of fathomless gray eyes. Sighing, she rested in Sirius' outstretched arms, but as she fell deeper into his embrace, she hit the hard ground. When she looked up, Sirius was pointing his wand at her threateningly and smirking. Tears welled in her eyes, but trying to blink them back made her heart tremble. Dumbledore was standing over her now, wand pointed. He said in his soft, soothing voice, "Trust only yourself. When you rely on others, you will find yourself the weakest"...he was whisked away suddenly as if vanishing into the wind and was replaced by a sight that almost stopped Lia's heart. Silvia was standing above her, green flames flashing in slow motion from her wand, which was, as the previous wands before it, pointed at her cousin.

- - - - -

Aurelia awoke in a cold sweat. Her vision was fuzzy and her breathing was slightly heavier than usual. She put a hand to her forehead, which was wet with perspiration. That is when she noticed a barn owl pecking mercilessly at the windowpane. Taipa was hooting softly in his cage, also pecking, but at the metal bars surrounding him. She noticed that he had spilled his water bowl onto the desk, no doubt drenching countless work papers.

Lifting the covers off her, she leapt out of bed and unlocked Taipa's cage, and then went to the window to open it. The brown barn owl swooped into the room and flew around the ceiling with Taipa, looking very much like large vampire bats. She couldn't coax the visitor to deliver the letter and finally ordered Taipa back into his cage. The barn owl tried to follow but found that, to its displeasure, it couldn't fit. After deciding the whole ordeal was not worth the effort, it flew towards Aurelia and landed on her extended arm, sending out its own leg. Lia untied the letter, which was strapped tightly to the bird's foot and led it to the window where it took flight again.

"Who do you suppose sends owls at three o'clock in the morning?" she asked Taipa as he flew towards her and landed on her shoulder, tilting his head curiously.

Aurelia broke the envelope open with her index finger, sliding it carefully along the seal. She took out the piece of parchment and unfolded it. Taipa clicked his beak and nipped affectionately at Lia's ear.

While reading the letter, she tried desperately to stay calm, yet seeing as the contents were both devastating and frightening, she could not withhold a small gasp. Still clinging to Dumbledore's report, she let herself fall onto the bed, her hand running over her forehead to push away strands of fallen hair.

Benji Fenwick had been in his own home when the Death Eaters had mutilated him. The realization of it--the audacity that she had, only hours before, seen his name on the wall of "members in danger". Why hadn't they contacted him? He would have been ready then, and he could have called for help. Subconsciously, Aurelia reached out to grasp the wand that lay on the bedside table.

She heard a voice in her head that whispered, "The poor chit barely escaped alive."

Silvia. Lia needed someone to talk to about all of this. She needed someone she could confide in, someone she'd known for a long time. But Silvia she couldn't confide in, however strong their friendship was. Via was not a member of the Order and Lia had questions, things that needed to be answered about the group she had gotten herself coaxed into joining. The entire situation was an unexpected burden all in the first night of her membership. But Lia could only think of one other person to whom she could go.

It was less than five minutes later that she was standing on the steps of a well-kept three-story house. The lamps that lined the street behind her flickered slightly, but Aurelia decided it had only been her overactive imagination. She heard a voice from inside after she knocked on the door, but could not make out what had been said. Also from within came grumbling noises and locks being hastily unbolted.

The door opened and Sirius and Aurelia stood gazing at each other. Then, Lia stepped forward and walked right into him, rapping her arms around his chest and sighed deeply into his shirt. At first, Sirius was baffled, but he slowly, knowingly, put his arms around her shoulders and brought her in closer to him. He gently pushed her head against his chest so that Aurelia could hear his heart beating.

"Sirius, I'm so sorry," she said, her voice on the verge of trembling. "But I'm--I--"

"Because of what happened to Benji?"

She looked up and nodded absentmindedly. Sirius attempted to move back a few inches, far enough so that he could close the door. They managed to go from standing in the doorway to lying on the couch without once breaking completely apart.

"What's on your mind, Lia?" Sirius said soothingly to her earlobe.

"Everything. I mean, hearing about Benji, its not something you can just put away and move on with, is it? How did you persuade me to join the Order?"

"I find myself in shock that you cannot recollect the event clearly."

"I do, I just...wanted to know why I'd been stupid enough to do it."

Sirius laid the back of his hand against her cheek and stoked. "It's hard to take in at first. The feeling won't go away for awhile, just like you said. You're upset that Benji's dead and you didn't even know him. He was a great man. You-Know-Who took out his only weakness first--his Muggle sister was his to protect and when he saw what those bastard Death Eaters had done to her, his defenses broke. I'm sure he still fought in the end, right up until the moment he died." Aurelia quickly buried her head in Sirius' shirt as he looked down at her. She was ashamed to be crying and she wasn't sure of the reason. "Hey," he said softly, putting his hand under her chin and lifting her head. "There's always something to look forward to."

"What?" Aurelia asked as Sirius moved his thumb under her eye to wipe away a tear.

"Killing him."

Lia looked up at him, her gaze moving slowly and then shut her eyes. Sirius wrapped his arms around her body and kissed her closed eyelid. After a few more minutes of silence they both fell asleep, their arms still wrapped around one another.

- - - - -

There hadn't been anymore nightmares to get her heart racing, but it nearly stopped when she hit the cold floor tiles. Her head began throbbing as was usual when it hit something hard. Bringing her hand up to the back of her head, she heard Sirius' bark of laughter from above.

"Shut your snout," Aurelia scorned, frowning because of the pain her head was issuing. "Laughing at me like it's my fault."

"You're blaming me?" asked Sirius, his eyes wide. "How do you figure?"

"Well, I was on top!"

This statement produced a grin from Sirius and caused Aurelia's cheeks to flush.

"Don't get used to it," he teased, but now Aurelia just rolled her eyes and stood up. The instant she did so, she wished she hadn't, for her brain leapt and ricocheted off the sides of her skull. She fell on top of Sirius, who had sat up so that she now lay across his lap.

"You didn't used to be this clingy, Lia."

Aurelia wasn't intending to make him jealous, but she replied, "After two year of dating other guys, sometimes it happens."

Sirius' grin faded at once. "What do you mean other guys?"

"You know," Lia said, sitting up again and kissing Sirius on the lips. Pulling away, she supplied, "Guys other than you." He had on a face that suggested the jealousy she had expected, but also some curiosity. "Oh, like you didn't have plenty of other girlfriends when you got out of Hogwarts. Don't even try it--I know you've had at least ten."

"How would you--"

"Knowing you it's plausible, which made me believe those letters Lily and Remus sent me."

"What? They wrote to you about me?"

"Of course not, love, you were a side note. I gave them my addresses in France and Germany before I left the wedding. I wasn't about to give them to you."

"Why not?" he asked, dismayed. "We were talking civilly by the end of the night."

Aurelia stood up, laughing. "Only because Remus convinced us to stop fighting. If it hadn't been for him, we'd still hate each other." Lia suddenly grabbed the collar of Sirius' shirt and pulled him up to meet a nice, long kiss. When they parted, Aurelia said, "Bless him."

"Yeah, thank God for Remus," Sirius muttered as he pulled her closer and they kissed again. But it wasn't long before Aurelia's eyes flashed open and she pushed him off of her.

"Sirius, I have to work today!" She made an irritated sound from her throat and started towards the door. "You make me forget everything!"

"But...I thought I was a good boyfriend."

"Love you," she managed to say before she apparated back to her house to change and collect her paperwork.

- - - - -

It was a hectic day at Portkeys to Paradise since the Christmas holidays were coming up. Aurelia was regretting the fact that she hadn't taken a sick day and stayed with Sirius because the entire office was non-stop chaos. She had recently been promoted to Junior Administrator of the Northern European cell. It was a huge responsibility and took up much of her time. Her underlings had been confusing papers all day and yelling was becoming a common thing to hear.

"Mr. Johnson's trip was cancelled; he doesn't have use for that key--Separate, Garrett! They're going at different times now. And you can't just use the same key, no!"

Portkeys to Paradise was among the many Muggle-equivalents to travel agencies of the wizarding world. True to its name, it dealt mostly with portkeys, but certain departments worked in the Floo Network. Because portkeys had to be authorized by the Ministry of Magic, naturally one department was assigned to work from and with the Ministry. The cells included northern and southern Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas, the Pacific and Atlantic. They served as transportation for vacations and business trips. Lately, the amount of customers had doubled--many people wanted to get far away from England. The Pacific and Northern European cells had been overflowing with business. Owls were flying in from every direction and they were forced to hire out for a new position whose only task was cleaning windowsills.

It was surprising to Lia how much free time she hadn't reserved for herself. The next few weeks consisted of nothing but labor and Order meetings. Work rode her like a pack mule and she decided to set up something with her favorite cousin to relieve her mind of the stressful responsibilities. It was between scolding Harris for failing to redirect an incorrectly sent order to the Atlantic cell and talking to the Ministry directory supervisor for authorization to reuse a portkey that she wrote her letter to Silvia.

Dear Via,

It's been awhile since we've talked. Work has been a living hell and I really need some time off just to relax. I haven't eaten a decent meal in over a week. If you're able to do something--maybe go out for dinner, soon preferably. I'd really appreciate the excuse to get out.

Ravenous, Aurelia

Once she'd called about a public owl and strapped the letter to his foot, she was back to work.

"Aurelia! Did you hear about the murder?"

Daniel Landon was an energetic, outgoing, blunt young man just out of school. His bright blonde hair stuck out perfectly against all the brunettes in the building and his piercing blue gaze cast everyone intrusive looks. He left no spaces in the rumors he circulated, but filled in the untold with his own hard-believed portions.

"In the paper it said the damn Death Eaters got to Fenwick in his sleep," Daniel said mater-of-factly, "but they're lyin' of course."

"And how would you know that?" asked Aurelia as calmly as she could manage.

"Those creeps would want to hear him screaming. It's like a craving they have. If they're not satisfied that their victims have experienced excruciating pain, the kill wasn't worth their time. And from what I've heard of Benji, they'd have been lucky to open the door without wakin' him up."

Landon's perceptions usually possessed a fairy-tale characteristic, but for some reason she knew that this time he was not making things up.

- - - - -

Silvia Colton was realizing how agonizingly boring her job as a Ministry Tracker could really be. A Tracker was essential to the maintenance of the Ministry of Magic. Trackers were in charge of reading over and analyzing the department reports that were sent daily. Effectively a Tracker learned about everything that happened in the Ministry by simply reading a piece of parchment. They shortened the reports if needed so the Minister did not have to read some new wizard's nervous scribbling.

A downside of the job was that some reports tended to be extremely dry, while others were juicy with gossip or recent accounts. After her late night rendezvous, the Ministry was positively buzzing. Hourly reports had been arriving from the Aurors and they left out several details that she herself would have included, although her opinion of the subject was supposed to be biased.

She flicked a navy lock out of her eyes before taking the quill from her mouth to dip it once again in the ink. She jotted down a few more lines from the report before rolling it up and inserting it in the tube beside her desk that carried the finished reports directly to the Minister's office. The tubes, though highly effective, tended to cause a certain mischievous quality to emerge through the Trackers. Several highly inappropriate 'reports' had been sent to an irate Minister's office. Silvia of course was not one to send any reports of that kind, she merely encouraged the idea...by starting it.

Silvia reached for another report as something flapped in front of her and stuck a scaled leg in her line of sight. She reached into her desk drawer and pulled out an owl treat, giving it to the bird while she unrolled the parchment. She stroked the bird's feathers while reading over the note from her cousin.

"Could you stay here for a moment? I promise a few more treats for your troubles," Silvia cooed to the owl that hooted excitedly at the prospect of more food. She took out two dishes and deposited them before the bird. She took out some parchment and re-inked her quill again.

Dear Aurelia,

In fact, I haven't had anything that would qualify as a meal in at least a week either. I would be delighted to join you in some good eating. Believe me, I would appreciate a reason to leave work early--or at all at the rate this day is going. I think plans with my terminally ill cousin who might not live to see next month counts as one, wouldn't you think? Just give me a time and place, luv. The sooner the better.

Adoringly, Silvia

Silvia rolled up the parchment and was about to attach it to the owl when there was a loud bang and smoke billowing from a desk not far off. An office door slammed open to expose an extremely angry face. "Simons! What have I told you about these things!"

"S-s-sorry s-sir, it s-s-slipped," the frightened young man stuttered.

She shook her head at the boys' misfortune. She was trying to remember what she had been doing previously when a report was shoved on her desk. "Need this done, as soon as possible."

Silvia waved him off and set to work on the report in front of her. She was chewing absentmindedly on her quill tip again; it was a wonder to her still that she never received ink stains on her teeth. Time passed by and she took no notice, that was until something stabbed her arm.

"Bloody hell!" Silvia looked to her right to see an annoyed looking owl sticking its leg out. "Oh, I'm sorry about that. Got distracted."

The owl simply hooted lowly and shook its head watching her attach the letter she had written nearly a half an hour ago. She hoped Aurelia wouldn't be too busy to accept it now.

- - - - -

"Jealous is such an accusatory word. I like to think of it more as protective."

"It wasn't like she hit on me or anything," Sirius replied smoothly. His eyes, as they often did, were following her motions as she flittered about the room.

"Only because I dragged you away from that Muggle stand before she got a chance," Aurelia said as she flicked her wand at the dishes in the sink and they began to clean themselves.

"I was not dragged. I came when you called, like the obedient dog that I am."

"Ha! Obedient," she scoffed.

She continued to mindlessly clean her apartment, not much caring what she was doing, as long as it was productive. Even though she was not required to move, she continued pacing up and down the hallways of her newly furnished apartment. Sirius sat in the old armchair her father had donated to her cause and looked around.

"Still can't believe you told your boss your apartment was on fire," Sirius said in a disbelieving voice. "Expect you'll be issuing that excuse often."

"Often enough, if I can get away with it. I've already used up the dead grandparents ones. You only have so many, you know."

"That's why you start with the great-grandparents," he said knowledgeably. "So how much does it cost you, this place?"

She spun her wand hand's wrist expertly and the curtains in the sitting room rattled and shook, freeing themselves of dust. "It's not too bad, actually; my electrical bill in non-existent. Muggles use it for lighting and climate controlling the rooms. Why would I need to use it? All these wires, they confuse me."

"You shouldn't be burdened with Muggle matters, darling," he said, twirling his wand in his fingers while the room flickered from light to dark with each spin.

"I could invite the Quidditch World Cup to be hosted here and I wouldn't have to pay a thing," Aurelia voiced from behind the couch.

"Wouldn't you get in a little bit of trouble for that?"

"No--well, maybe for hosting the Cup," Aurelia admitted. "My landlord adores me, though. 'Never gets into any trouble. No mess, no broken windows, no flooding toilets.' The list goes on."

Aurelia continued her cleanup by pointing her wand at a pile of clothes and they began folding themselves into neat piles. "I do feel badly for the poor Muggles. Just yesterday all the lights went out in the building and wouldn't come back on. After twenty minutes, I got tired of hearing all the fuss they were making downstairs, so I fixed the problem," she confessed. "Also might have used a tiny oblivion charm on the guy who was first in line for this apartment..."

"Breaking the law then, are we Lia?" he goaded, grinning.

"You won't tell on me, will you?" she asked, pouting her lower lip in an irresistible imitation of a five-year-old child.

"'Course not," Sirius replied, grabbing her hand as she walked past the armchair, he stood up and kissed her. "Then I wouldn't get to do that for awhile and I'm not sure I can just quit cold-turkey."

"Could always visit me in Azkaban."

They leaned in to touch lips again, but before they got close enough they heard an odd clicking sound by the window.

"Doesn't it seem like we're always interrupted by something," Aurelia said, going to the window and taking the letter off of a brown owl's foot.

"It's you! You're the one who ends it. I'm the instigator. It's like you don't enjoy it as much as you used to."

"It was so much more fun at school," she explained, unsealing the envelope and scanning the letter as she spoke, "hiding from Woldrum in empty classrooms and behind suits of armor. The risk factor really made it more exciting."

"Always like to hear that. Can we visit Hogwarts this weekend?" he asked, a smirk forming on his face.

She smacked him across the arm with the envelope she held and muttered, "Dinner date's on then."

"With whom?" he asked skeptically.

"My cousin, Via. You remember her, right?"

"Kind of hard to forget," Sirius muttered darkly.

Aurelia chuckled.

"You're meeting her?" Sirius asked, worry lacing his normal speech.

"Yes, but I haven't decided where yet," she trailed off, muttering to herself more than speaking to Sirius.

"I don't know if it's a great idea to meet with her." He strode over to where she stood.

"Why not?" Aurelia was curious as to why Sirius would not want her to go to dinner with her cousin. His behavior was peculiar, as if she were putting herself in mortal peril. "Not like I haven't seen her yet."

"You have?"

"Before I so pleasantly bumped into you, yes." Aurelia was searching around for her favorite quill so that she could write a reply to Silvia. She was buried within her desk when she noticed Sirius still hadn't said anything yet. "Is it because of her friends?"

Sirius favored her with a hard stare before simply nodding.

"Would you feel better if you came with me?"

"Yes," he said, a little too quickly.

"All right, we'll double date then. I'm sure Silvia has plenty of guys to choose from."

Aurelia turned her back to fetch a piece of parchment and didn't see that statement received even more unease from Sirius.

- - - - -

Silvia had left work a little earlier than necessary, claiming that she needed to take some time to recover from the brutal attack on Benji Fenwick. Truthfully, she wanted to celebrate with a certain dark haired man. She had apparated from outside the Ministry sniffling to appear smiling at her shared flat.

When a pair of rough hands covered her eyes, as was her customary welcome, she couldn't suppress her grin. She turned around to have Evan's arms encircle her waist as she stood on her tiptoes to teasingly kiss him on the nose. He in return crinkled his face before kissing her properly.

Silvia turned in his arms again and smiled. She loved coming home to this everyday; to see Evan with his dark brown hair dusting lightly over his eyes, standing there waiting for her. His chocolate eyes were absolutely smoldering and she couldn't help but admire the muscular build that his darkened body held. She was glad he always arrived before her; she wouldn't be able to wait long for him to show.

"You know what I found out the other day, luv?"

"Hmm?" Evan replied while inhaling the scent of apples that wafted from her shower previously that morning. It was a rather pleasant shower as he had decided to conserve water by joining her.

"I discovered that you are really a patron devil of seduction who takes the form of physical beauty to make the women folk fall madly in love with him," Silvia stated as she leaned back on his chest. She loved it when he would smell her hair, especially since his favorite place was right behind her ear--a place that made her go wild.

The dark haired 'devil' smirked. "Then there's only one question," he began and leaned his head until his warm breath was hitting the shell of her ear. "Is it working?"

"Absolutely," Silvia responded huskily. She tilted her head back to kiss him when an owl at the window caught her attention.

"Bugger."

She entertained the thought of releasing herself from his warm hold to let the owl in and give it a treat before letting it fly off but thought better of it. "This had better not be from work," she muttered while proceeding to drag Evan along with her to the window, snogging him in the process.

Let it never be said that Silvia Colton did not know how to multitask. As her tongue gave Evan's a particularly nice massage, she retrieved her own from the owl's foot and reached into the drawer where she held owl treats. She gave one such treat to the owl before letting it fly off and then close the window.

She slid a finger under the seal and unfolded the parchment inside, taking a quick gleam at the handwriting. It was not from work at all but from Aurelia about their dinner date. She decided she should probably attempt to read the letter, and therefore Silvia pushed herself away from Evan using his chest and leaned against the wall, breathing deeply.

Dear Silvia,

Is it all right with you if I bring along a date? You could bring your latest boy toy and we'll call it even. I was thinking seven o'clock tomorrow at that little restaurant in Diagon Alley. Can't ever remember the name. It's across from Flourish & Blotts, though. You know the one? It's casual, so don't worry about dressing up. We'll meet outside. Let me know what you think when you have the time.

Pointedly, Aurelia

She smirked at the mention of bringing her 'boy toy' and looked over at the object of her affections, who was for his part looking extremely forlorn at being left alone so suddenly. She grinned while sauntering back to him and placing her hands on his shoulders.

"Are you up for dinner tomorrow night?" Silvia whispered in his ear.

"What's the occasion?"

"Lia's in town," Silvia answered.

"Your cousin?" he asked and received a nod. "Are you sure this is wise, Via?"

Silvia gave him a playful slap. "Of course it is. Aurelia is friends with Dumbledore's favorites. She'll have kept in contact with them, and through her we can gain some information. Besides, I'm supposed to bring a date."

"Dinner it is then," Rosier agreed before sweeping her off her feet bridal-style and carrying her towards their bedroom.

"Evan! Evan let me down! I have to send a reply." Silvia gasped out laughing. "Evan!"

Her protests were ignored since they weren't in the least heart-felt. She figured that she would just send a reply to Aurelia before tomorrow night to let her know she was coming with her boy toy.

- - - - -

They had been waiting at the door to get into the restaurant for twenty after seven. Sirius was sitting across from Aurelia at an outside table and was laughing while she tapped her foot impatiently.

"Stop it, I'm worried," she said, scowling. "What if Death Eaters--"

"No, I'm sure they're fine," he said, his eyes no longer held the faintest gleam of laughter. "Silvia can take care of herself."

Aurelia pursed her lips and continued to tap her foot on the pavement. Sirius smile returned and he got up out of his chair, moved around the table and laid his hands on Lia's shoulders, massaging and relaxing her tense muscles. She sighed and instantly relaxed. Sirius leaned over her chair to kiss her when they heard someone clear their throat. They both let out frustrated noises before looking behind them.

"We're not interrupting anything, I hope."

Silvia stood grinning a few feet away, Evan Rosier at her side, expressionless.

Sirius glared and said, "Of course you are--"

"--not," Aurelia corrected with a forced smile. She glanced to the left of her cousin and blinked. "Evan Rosier? Well, I see your taste hasn't changed, Via."

"I could say the same for you, Aurelia," Silvia remarked, looking over at the eldest Black child.

"We should probably head inside," Sirius suggested, his eyes still narrowed at the new arrivals.

They were seated at once and the menus were passed around. Not one of them spoke until their food magically appeared before them and it was only to tell the waiter Silvia's order had been mixed up. Conversation was void and the entire meal was nothing but skeptical looks and glaring. Any attempt to start conversation as quickly put to rest by the speaker's partner.

When everyone's plate was spotless, there were no more excuses to keep quiet, so Lia made one up.

"If you'll excuse me," she said, jumping up from her seat and heading in the direction of the bathroom.

Silvia made to follow, but Evan put a hand on her leg and made a look that said, "Don't you leave me alone with him."

"So," said Sirius, apparently attempting a stab at pleasantries, "killed anyone lately?"

Evan sneered, "If we had, you'd already know about it."

Silvia leaned back in her chair, at ease, and remarked, "You know, the only thing keeping us from making an easy job out of you is Aurelia. Lucky you two got back together."

"You don't know the half of it," Sirius said, but instead of his usual elate expression, his face was blank.

"I'm surprised you haven't told her yet," she said. It was as if something was tickling her underneath the chin and the idea made her smile. "It must make you feel horrible about yourself, keeping a secret like that from her."

"Let's ask the one with the most experience, shall we?"

They stared one another straight in the eye unblinkingly.

"How's Benji Fenwick, Black?" Evan said evenly, smirking as he did so.

"Happy, I'm sure. At least he's not living in fear of what might happen to him if he upsets his master."

Evan put his hand down on the table and this time Silvia prevented him from getting up.

"He's not able to think much about anything now, is he?" said Silvia, then she spotted Aurelia walking down the aisle to their table.

Sirius had heard the softening of Via's voice and knew they would soon be rejoined. He said, "Another time, another row."

"I hope I haven't missed much, since you were all speaking so enthusiastically when I left."

Aurelia sat down and the moment her back touched the seat she felt Sirius slide his hand to rest on the inside of her thigh. Her eyes widened for a few seconds before she heard Silvia say, "Yes, you missed our heated discussion..."

"Heated," Aurelia, repeated softly as Sirius' hand moved up her thigh. Silvia's voice had trailed off in Lia's mind and she didn't really care enough to ask what had just been said, for other matters obviously required her attention.

"I...uh--we have to go," said Lia. "Work in the morning and it really is getting late, you know."

"Um, yeah," Silvia said uncertainly, shooting a quizzical glance at Evan, who shrugged. "It was great seeing you again, Lia."

"Yes, really great." She smiled, but it was not originally meant for her cousin. "Write me. Anytime."

"I'll be sure to do that."

Sirius' hand suddenly disappeared as he got up and Lia quickly imitated.

"Dinner's on me," she said, about to reach into her pocket, but Sirius kindly obliged. He rummaged around as if he couldn't find her money when he had had it in his hand all along. He whispered into her ear, saying, "And desert's on me."

The only reason Sirius had put on that little display was to get out of the restaurant and distance themselves from Evan and Silvia as soon as he possibly could. It hadn't bothered Aurelia. She was glad she had been given a reason to get away. Having others around while Via and Lia spoke was just not something they were used to. What had they thought was going to happen? Their boyfriends would forget their childhood for one night and talk like they had been great friends. The dinner, she admitted, had been a complete disaster, but as for after-hours...