Thicker than Water (Marauders Era) PART II

27 June, 1994 - Interrogation

Sirius didn't stay at the house by the sea for long and Lavinia was never sure whether or not she was glad for this. On the one hand, having him there dragged up all her memories of a past she didn't want to remember. It reminded her of everything she had lost. And when their eyes caught across the rooms of the house it was like lightning shot through her and the bottom dropped out of her stomach and the sensation was far from pleasant. It was burning and aching and cold and so very very confusing.

And on the other hand, having him there also dragged up all her memories of a better time. The little ones that were stupid and meaningless and dusty with age but that made her smile. It was like living in the past. Like nothing had changed. And in those moments when they laughed together, or even when the silence was just briefly, momentarily comfortable, it was like everything was just as it had been before. It was like maybe, just maybe, they could fix this.

And for those brief moments over the weekend, Lavinia started to think that they really, truly could. That maybe things could be repaired. New bridges could be built. And it wouldn't be the same. Because it would never be the same. But it didn't have to be. It could just be... something. It could just be a friendship, small and perhaps a bit fragile, but... but better than nothing. Because Lavinia had realized rather suddenly that she didn't want nothing. She didn't want him to disappear from her life. Not again.

But this time, he had to.

This less than peasant point was driven home on Monday, when Lavinia returned to work and was reminded rather forcefully of all the things she had built while Sirius had been gone. Because though the weekend had been like living in the past, she wasn't actually there. And twelve years had passed and she had friends and coworkers and a life. And come Monday morning, she was thrown right back into it.

It felt weird. Like she had closed her eyes and the weekend had been a very strange dream that she didn't entirely know how to reconcile. But she'd woken up now. And things were exactly as she had left them. Because of course they were. It had only been one weekend. It had just felt like a lifetime.

And in case this reality wasn't enough to deal with, when Lavinia shift was nearing its end she was reminded of exactly what the rest of the world thought of Sirius Black. Of exactly why those moments had only been moments. Exactly why this thing that was reforming between them, whatever it was, was impermanent.

She was in the hit wizard's ward when it happened, cleaning and checking on the handful of patients currently being treated in the ward while Elias, who was on his usual night shift, could get his mounds of paperwork done before he had his weekend. And since Elias liked to do paperwork in the breakroom instead of the main ward, Lavinia had volunteered to keep an eye on things until her shift officially ended.

As she reapplied bandages to the arm of a hit wizard who had gotten a bite off of an apparently poisonous and probably illegal plant while he was hunting down the woman who bred and sold them, the back entrance to the side ward opened and Lavinia glanced up to see two Aurors walking in, their uniforms clearly identifying their profession. She gave them a quick once over anyway, just to make sure no one was in immediate danger, before giving them a brief nod to show she'd seen them and turning back to her current patient, trying not to get too distracted by the fact that two Aurors, both of whom looked perfectly healthy, had just entered the ward.

"It seems to be getting better," Lavinia told the man she was currently treating, pushing her whirling thoughts away. "If it's still oozing tomorrow, we'll try some stronger potions, but I'd rather avoid them if we can. Try to get some rest and please don't itch it," she added this last bit with a slightly dry smile that told the man she knew full well what the redness at the edge of his old bandages had been. He offered her a sheepish grin in return and her smile spread slightly before she tapped her wand on the bandages, sealing their edges down.