Within the Wings of a Storm

Love's a State of Mind

Here is where our slow burn with Severus really starts to kick off. It will be a bit of a wait but will be worth it— promise! Oh, and some rated "MA" Sirius stuff in this chapter as well.

Chapter title is from "Rhiannon" by Fleetwood Mac
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Rhiannon offered her finger to the snow white songbird that leaned forward from its perch, its beady black eyes studying her as it chirped. Sirius had ordered a cage placed in the library for her to house the white, golden, and emerald green birds that had found their way to the Grimmauld Place garden. She had found them playing in the garden where they had made love the night before. That factor was a bit odd, but their brilliant colors and tame temperament caused her to fall instantly in love, and she wanted to keep them. Sirius had agreed, believing they were a divine gift blessing their union. That was three days ago, and she was still trying to think of the right names for them.

The volumes that lined the walls of the Black family library were tattered and browned with age, and their contents were mostly just stories of their family history, along with treatises singing the praises of pure bloodlines. There were a few old Hogwarts textbooks, as well as children's stories that had belonged to Sirius and his brother Regulus, a Death Eater whom Sirius presumed to have been killed by one of her father's followers, though he was unclear as to why. Regulus had doodled his name out of intricate, curvy snakes in the cover of one of the books of legends. To think that her own father was responsible for the death of Sirius's brother, and the death of thousands of others. Rhiannon shuddered.

Turning to the stories for inspiration in naming her birds, she suddenly felt a shock start in her stomach and seem to run up her spine.

"You would think with your growing need and so much time on your hands, Black, you would learn to brew these on your own," a silky voice reprimanded from the hall. "Then again, I'm sure you lack the fundamental knowledge required for the brew, considering you ignored Professor Slughorn's lectures in favor of sniffing after every bitch that passed by."

"Not every," she heard Sirius correct him handily. "Lily always belonged to James."

Rhiannon heard the whoosh of a robe and the sound of boots smacking on the wood. She peered around the corner to see her Gryffindor lover and Professor Snape squared off, wands in hand.

"Gentlemen, wands down!" Arthur Weasley commanded, rushing up from the kitchen. "You do realize there are more important things at hand than the feral hormones of twenty years ago, do you not?" Arthur caught a glimpse of Rhiannon watching in the wings and shifted his gaze between the two angry wizards. "Twenty years or twenty minutes, whatever the case may be, we are all charged with a mission far greater than our own desires and we are required to work together to achieve it," he continued. "Wands DOWN."

The two men obeyed, continuing to eye each other with disgust. "Do your business here and get out," Sirius muttered, stalking off upstairs. Rhiannon was surprised that he didn't even glance her way, seeming once again to be trapped in his past. Professor Snape's black eyes fell on her sharply and Rhiannon felt herself sink back into the wall, wishing she could disappear.

Arthur seemed to pick up on the new tension in the air and immediately excused himself, looking questioningly at Rhiannon on his way out, seeming to wonder if she needed his aid. She shook her head almost imperceptibly, gripping the doorknob to the library as she remained up against the wall.

"Well, well, we meet again, Miss Aspenfell," the voice floated in her direction. The professor drew his black cloak back together around his front, replacing his wand. "I trust my work on your injuries has held in spite of your recent...physical activities."