Chapter 16 “ In the calm clear light of day
They danced around the gardens, using the darkness to conceal their scandalously close embrace. Maeve felt so happy. It seemed as though their feet didn't quite touch the ground. Overhead, the full moon cast a romantic glow over the couple. As the faint sounds of music came to an end, Sirius swung her around to a stop and drew her even closer. Lifting a curl laying against her neck, he rubbed it between his fingers for a moment murmuring, 'Soft as silk, I knew it would be soft as silk.'
He dropped the curl, his intense gray eyes looking like storm clouds filled with lightning. Features tense with longing, Sirius muttered roughly, 'I know something that's softer.' He threaded his hands through her hair, tilting her face up slightly. His head lowered. . .
"Maeve! Are you going to sleep all day?" Morag cried, jumping on the bed and jarring Maeve from the loveliest dream she'd ever had.
Maeve glared up at her cheerful sister and muttered, "What time is it?"
"It's nearly time for breakfast and mother asked if we would run over to the Blackwaterfoot Lodge and pick up some fresh scones." Morag bounced on the bed in her impatience. "So, come on! Get up lazybones!"
Maeve pulled herself into a sitting position and sniped, "Scones just don't compare to the dream I was having!"
Morag scrambled off the bed and went to the wardrobe, pulling a fresh dress out for her sister. She turned with a sly expression on her face. "I did mention to the boys that we might just have to go to the Lodge for fresh scones this morning. If you were dreaming about one of them, wouldn't you prefer the reality?"
Maeve couldn't quite cover the hope that filled her at that tidbit of information, but she tried to be nonchalant. "Maybe. What boys?"
Morag tossed her sister the dress she was holding and teased, "Oh, just some boys from the party last night."
Maeve snatched the dress out of the air and grinned at her sister. "Well, why didn't you say so?" She jumped out of the bed and hurried to the bathroom to get ready.
In no time at all they were strolling toward the Lodge comparing stories about the previous evening.
"You certainly seem smitten with your new betrothed," Maeve teased lightly. "It seemed as though the two of you could hardly be pried apart."
Morag smiled happily. "Yes, I do like him quite a bit. He's very gallant, and quite nice looking too. I don't believe I danced a single full dance with anyone but him, he cut into every one."
"It sounds like he's just as smitten as you!" Maeve was delighted for her sister.
"I saw you dancing quite a bit too."
"Yes, but I was able to finish most of my dances without being interrupted."
The girls giggled together all the way to the Lodge. They spotted the boys going in the door. "Let's sneak over to that parlor window and see if they're talking about us," Morag suggested with a wicked gleam in her eye.
"Do you really think we should?" asked Maeve. A faint feeling of foreboding shivered up her spine.
"We all had a wonderful time last night!" Morag teased, "Wouldn’t you like to know what they have to say about it?" She grabbed her sister's arm and tugged lightly.
Maeve gave in and trotted quickly after her sister to crouch beneath the open window to the parlor where the boys lounged.
-
Inside, Regulus delighted in goading the brother who couldn't hex him as he deserved. "Come on Sirius, I've never known you to be so bashful about what happened between you and one of your conquests before."
"It's none of your bloody business what I do or with whom." Sirius replied tersely.
"I saw you mooning about last night sniffing after Morag's sister. I also saw you leading her out to the gardens."
"Haven't you anything better to think about than what I was up to last night? You seemed to be enamored with, how have you put it all summer, your cross to bear; did things turn out better than you thought they would?" Sirius smirked.
"Actually they did," Regulus murmured to himself.
"What was that? You're muttering again."
"Trust you to go after the flashier sister. I wonder if her temperament matches that fiery hair?" Regulus retorted.
Sirius seethed inside. He knew his brother was trying to sway the conversation back the way he wanted it to go. Regulus wasn't quite ready to deal with his feelings toward Morag yet. Although Sirius wanted desperately to smash Regulus's face for daring to speak of Maeve in such a way, he kept his temper. It wouldn't do to allow his brother to know how much he was getting to him. Regulus would only use Maeve against him at every opportunity. Determined to keep the peace, he settled his features into a bland expression. "Well, for your information, nothing you need to know about happened in the garden last night. As for Maeve's temperament, Reggie, since you're stuck with her sister, I guess you'll never know."
Regulus let out a delighted laugh, "I always knew you were a dog, just like the constellation you were named for. Telling me ‘nothing I need to know about’ tells me more than if you actually went into detail about it!"
Sirius quipped, “Don’t pretend you can figure out what two plus two equals.” Outwardly, he smirked, but inwardly, he grimaced. He didn't know what it was about his brother that brought out the Slytherin in him, but Sirius found it disturbingly easy to act the part. It wasn't something he, Gryffindor through and through, was proud of.
Reggie seemed bent on beating the conversational horse to death. “If you’re willing to tell the truth, I’d be willing to wager you took the lovely Miss Maeve out into the gardens for an old fashioned snog session!”
Sirius rolled his eyes. Trust Regulus to jump to a conclusion like that. “Think whatever you like Reggie, you will anyway.”
“Why shouldn’t I? You’re not giving out any information.”
Letting out a huff of exasperation, Sirius decided to get his brother off the track. If Regulus realized just how much he cared about Maeve he could make life hell just by telling their mother. “For your information, brother, I was ordered to pay attention to Maeve by mother. I do want to earn my wand back, you know, so I went along with it.”
“That’s all it was?”
“Of course. What does a Hufflepuff have to offer?” Sirius scoffed aloud, silently thinking that there was a certain Hufflepuff from whom he’d be willing to take anything she offered.
“Well, I think you’re full of shite. If you can’t see the beauty of the garden that grew those two Hufflepuffs, then you’re an idiot!”
“This from the boy that can’t add two and two and come up with four.”
-
Crouched beneath the window, Morag saw the horrified look on Maeve’s face and pulled her away from the window, cursing her own curiosity. “Are you all right?”
Maeve couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. She had been so sure Sirius had really liked her. “I don’t know what to say,” she replied slowly. She looked up to see if her sister felt as hurt as she did. Surprisingly, Morag was smiling. Maeve reached for her hand. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. Didn’t you hear what Regulus said when Sirius accused him of muttering?”
“No, I didn’t.” Maeve had been paying more attention to what Sirius said, and how he’d said it.
“He said things had turned out better than he had thought they would. I think that means he really does like me, and we can build from there!”
“That makes good hearing, sister. I’m happy for you.”
“I also think those two were just being blowhards. Both of them have told me that they don’t get along like we do. They were probably just needling each other and didn't mean a word they said.”
“I hope you’re right. I’d hate to think I was only a ‘conquest’ of Sirius Black!”
“Use your head, sister. Could everything he said the other day in Diagon Alley and last night been lies and the few words spoken today been the only truth he’s had to say?”
The knot in the pit of Maeve's stomach loosened. “It does seem silly doesn’t it?”
“Yes. Now, let’s go get some scones. I’m starving!” Morag cajoled, hoping she had stayed her sisters’ fears.
Maeve pasted a smile on her face and decided she was going to figure out, one way or another, who Sirius Black had been lying to. The words he'd just spoken were burnt into her mind, but her heart remembered everything else he'd said and fervently hoped Sirius had only been lying to his brother.
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Once again I'd like to thank my Beta, Kerichi, who takes my ideas and shows me how to make them show up in words that flow together and make a picture.