Seamus Finnigan. Lovely, cheeky Irish boy with a good heart. A Gryffindor in Harry’s year. You probably remember his first meal at Hogwarts – the night of the Sorting, I mean. You should! He did give his new friends an interesting glimpse into his parents’ life.

‘I’m half and half,’ said Seamus. ‘Me dad’s a Muggle. Mam didn’t tell him she was a witch ’til after they were married. Bit of a nasty shock for him.’*

Charming lady, Seamus’ Mam. I believe you had the good fortune to meet her just before the final Quidditch World Cup Match of 1994. She suspected Harry and even had a shouting match with her son after Dumbledore passed away, didn’t she?

Well, don’t be too harsh on her. Her name is Saoirse Finnigan nee MacKenna, and she can be pleasant when she wants to. She intimidates her husband a bit, but Liam was always a little vulnerable to female wiles. Mind you, I’ve never pondered if he’d have married her if he had known her secret before they tied the knot. Truth is, she told him after they were safely bonded for life, like Seamus said, and this is how it happened.


***

It was a perfectly lovely day for Liam Finnigan. The sky seemed to be the bluest of blue, and white fluffy clouds hung here and there. Even the birds seemed to be chirping, as fanciful as that sounded.

Yes, it was perfectly lovely.

He sat up and took in a deep breath. “Ha!� he said aloud to no one in particular. With a chuckle, he jumped out of bed, pulled on his pyjamas and headed for the bathroom.

On any normal day, Liam Finnigan would be going through his morning routine brusquely for he was a brusque man. So, why was he, on this particular Sunday morning, leisurely brushing his teeth as though it was a personal hobby?

The answer was simple in itself: Liam had got married the previous day. Of course, mused Liam as he got ready to shower, any man would be happy over that. But then, it wasn’t just “any man� who had married Saoirse MacKenna – it had been him!

The men in their little town had gone abuzz when the MacKenna family arrived ten months before. Saoirse MacKenna was a grand girl, and she had driven them crazy with her curly sandy hair and flirty dancing. However, she also had a huge temper which would make them wary and rethink their pick-up lines and tactics.

Aidan Connolly was the first to get a taste of her wrath: they had been dancing, and Connolly had apparently touched a lot more than her waist. The next thing people knew, Connolly was screaming and jumping about on the dance floor, holding his You-Know-What. It appeared that she had kicked him there, as he kept shouting it was stinging.

If truth be told, Connolly had had it coming to him, the no-good loafer. “The slimy langer deserved it!� was all folks had said. It had only made Liam fall harder for MacKenna, and before long, the two were holding hands.

She liked his gentler nature, she had told him. Unlike the other boys, he respected her. Of course, he respected her! What else could a man in love do?

And so, they were married. And so, he was sitting in the kitchen, unfurling the newspaper with a flourish, and waiting for her to join him.

“Here you are, Liam!� she said.

He put the paper down.

“Looks lovely, See,� he said, looking at all the food that was spread out on the table. “Wow, See, you got up just thirty minutes ago and you managed to make all these.�

“Mmmhm,� she said, smiling sweetly.

He ate in blissful silence. It was a while before he realized she hadn’t touched her food.

“What’s wrong, See? Why aren’t you eating?�

“There’s something I need to tell you, Liam,� she said.

He noticed there was an odd sparkle in her eyes, and her left hand was shaking visibly. “Well…go on,� he said, feeling a little worried.

“Do you notice how clean the house is?� she asked.

He looked around. Yes, whatever he could see was very clean and tidy. “Uh-huh,� he said.

“Wasn’t like this last night, was it?�

“Erm…that would mean you cleaned it?� he said. “Sorry I didn’t help,� he added hastily.

“No, no, that’s fine,� she said, shaking her head. “So, I woke up half an hour ago, cleaned the entire house and prepared this grand feast. What does that tell you?�

He paused nervously for a while. “That you can do magic?� he said, making a feeble attempt at a joke.

Her eyes widened, and then a look of relief passed over her face.

“Haha!� he said, breathing easier himself, thinking that his joke had helped ease the tension.

“It’s true,� she cut in. “I can do magic.�

He didn’t understand why she was continuing the act, but the seriousness on her face was beginning to scare him a bit. “Pulling me leg this early in the morning, Mrs Finnigan?� he asked.

“No, Mr Finnigan,� she replied. She took out a peculiar-looking polished stick from under the table, pointed it at an apple, and then cried “Avis!�

The apple turned into a red bird and flew out of the kitchen window.

“Jaysus!� shouted Liam Finnigan. “Wh- what the hell was that? Who are you?�

“Your wife,� she said, standing up and pointing the stick at him. “And a proud witch!�

Liam Finnigan spluttered incoherently before passing out on the table.


***

And so, that was how poor Liam found out. It took him days to recover from that particular information about his See; in fact, when his wife wasn’t looking, he would often smell the tea and food for anything suspicious. It didn’t help that he would occasionally walk into the scullery and find his pants wringing themselves.

With time, however, he got used to it. Perhaps, it was because Saoirse never used magic on him. Perhaps, it was because she loved him just as he loved her. The fact remains that they had a happy, if unusual, marriage.