Supercollide

Ch. 6. About Last Night

 Sirius isn't in bed when I wake up late Saturday morning, my ribs aching as I push myself to a sitting position. The room is back to normal and I notice a tea set on the table across the room, the curtains pulled back to let sunshine in. A tendril of steam swirls out of the tea pot and I immediately stumble over to it, the ground thankfully warm from the fire and the sunlight. A piece of parchment lies on the table and I read Sirius' formal handwriting, a smile on my face:

Goodmorning darling.

I'm out to meet Andromeda for tea before taking the motorcycle for a rumble.

I'll see you soon,

S

P.S. I hope you don't plan on returning to your bed from now on.

After pouring a cup of tea, I pad through the house, descending a floor to the study. The fire jumps to life with a wave of my hand as I sit down in the cold leather chair, my skin goose fleshing at the contact as I absentmindedly realize I'm only wearing the small nightgown. Quickly finding the enchanted parchment in a drawer, I send a note to Remus asking if they'd like to come for lunch. He responds quickly, planning to bring Teddy and Tonks over in a couple hours. His second response comes shortly after, asking if everything is okay.

After telling him it is, I tuck the parchment back in the drawer before wandering back upstairs, tea in hand. Deciding on a hot bath, I grab a book and soak for awhile, my thoughts idly chasing each other around as I think about last night.

By the time I climb out of the clawfoot tub, I still can't quite figure out how Sirius managed to release that much magic subconsciously. With a wave of my wand, I'm dry and my hair is tamed into its normal waves. I absentmindedly dab on some makeup and brush my teeth, sending my teacup down to the kitchen with a flick of my wrist. It looks much too warm outside for my normal attire as I wander towards my armoire, so I settle for a slip dress and boots, pulling a short cardigan on as well. I magically make my bed as I fling the curtains open, letting sunlight stream into the room. The muggles walk past on the street, some with shopping bags, others with their pets or baby strollers. I fling open all of the curtains as I make my way through the house, stopping every once and a while to fix a frame and check on the inhabitants of the pictures or paintings. A few shake me off, sincerely making conversation much like those at Hogwarts used to. The rude ones make gestures but no sound emits from their mouths as they move and I silently thank Hermione once again for that.

Noticing I'd left a pile of laundry on the couch, I send it up the stairs to my room as I repeat my newfound routine of opening the curtains in the living room. I open a few of the windows for good measure, pushing them wide enough to let the summer breeze in as I start cleaning up the first floor.

Awhile later, as I'm scrubbing a few teacups by hand, I hear the fireplace crackle, quickly followed by tiny footsteps running towards the kitchen. Teddy lunges into my arms as soon as I turn around, his parents walking in seconds later, laughing at something. "Auntie!"

"I haven't started cooking yet," I chuckle, bouncing Teddy so he's more secure on my hip. "Nym, you really do need to stop feeding this boy cake. He's getting heavy as a full grown Mandrake." I tickle his belly, making him emit a high squeal, "He screams like one too!"

"It's not my fault the three year old howls, blame his father for that one," she nudges Remus with his elbow and he shyly shakes his head, a flush darkening his cheekbones. "Where's Sirius?"

"Out with your mum," Tonks raises her brows before taking the child and I turn away to grab the tea kettle to fill with water. I hear a small cry of protest before she reaches out the pull my cardigan down my arm, revealing the top half of the dark bruise on my shoulder and back. "Circe, Venus what happened?"