build me up buttercup [s.black]

[16] Summer

Four weeks into the holidays and still nothing.

Aisling sprawled lethargically across her bed, her fingers playing absentmindedly with the hem of her skirt. Waiting for her O.W.L. results was bad enough, but when someone says 'look out for my owl this summer' as you're about to leave school for the holidays, it's only natural to assume they're going to write to you. She forced herself up off her bed with a huge sigh. As she wandered downstairs, she thought about how very preoccupied she had been all summer. Unfortunately, she couldn't blame her her absent-mindedness completely on the qualifications which would soon be arriving by owl. For the last four week,s she had been constantly distracted by the thought of a certain fellow student.

Whether she was imagining his deep grey eyes as she watered the flowers for her mother. Or wondering whether he had grown his hair any longer over the summer when she was supposed to be helping her father cook dinner. Or thinking about his lips as she pretended to read that morning's issue of The Daily Prophet. Thinking about Sirius' lips made Aisling bite down on her own, then quickly raise the newspaper a few inches higher so that her parents couldn't see the flush that swept across her cheeks. Then again, there were some headlines which managed to grab even her fleeting attention these days.

"More disappearances." She heard her dad mutter from across the breakfast table.

He was reading his own copy of The Daily Prophet and shook his head. He liked to keep up with current events in the wizarding world, despite being a muggle himself.

"How long do you reckon it'll be before there's killings?"

This question was directed at Shauna, who stopped pouring pancake batter into a pan and turned around to look threateningly at her husband. He stared back. Aisling had often thought it was rather impressive how her parents could have an entire conversation without saying a single word. They seemed to be having an argument now; it was either that or a staring contest. And, predictably, her dad was losing.

"I'm just saying that-"

"Not in front of Aisling, David!" Her mother cut across him sharply, dropping her ladle back into the bowl of pancake mix with a clatter.

"You don't have to worry about me mammy." Aisling said quietly. "I'm not a child."

"Oh sweet pea, you're so naïve. That's my job." Her mother replied, smiling and resuming her ladling.

"Yes darling, if she couldn't convince herself you were in mortal peril constantly, then her life would be almost meaningless." David chimed in, a twinkle in his eye which was remarkably similar to the one Aisling's had when she made a joke.

Shauna pointed her ladle at him playfully, a smile twitching at the corners of her mouth.

"You are on thin ice mister."

"Well, luckily I am a very good swimmer." He retorted, eyes still twinkling.

"Anyway, soon I'll be the one protecting you!" Aisling said, leaping out of her chair. "Aisling McCawley, Auror! The best dark wizard catcher there has ever been!"

She picked up a spoon off the table and brandished it like a wand. Making overly flamboyant wrist movements and leaping around the kitchen over chairs and rugs.

"Well sweetheart, you might have more luck catching dark wizards if your wand didn't double as a utensil for eating soup." Her father grinned at her.

"Yeah well, spoon or no spoon I still have a better chance of catching them than you do!" She stuck her tongue out at her dad, who opened his mouth to fire a comeback but got distracted by something outside.