𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄

" uninvited guests "

✤ ✾ ✤

. . . DECEMBER, 1975

SIRIUS HAD BEEN dreading the party since school had ended for the holidays.

In the few days since classes had finished, there had been nothing to entertain aside from a few letters from James, Remus, and Peter. Letters that had already been ripped open by Kreacher before they reached Sirius's hands. James still offered a place to stay should Sirius ever decide to run away from home. After a year like this one, it had never seemed more tempting.

He was a husk of himself when he was at home. Regulus paid less mind to him than ever. Where once they would have joked with each other and taken solace in their shared misery, Regulus avoided Sirius at all costs. Their mother and the house elves doted on the boy. Kreacher, on order from Orion and Walburga, had taken to punishing Sirius for his existence. Books snapped shut on Sirius's fingers with an iron grip. All of his even remotely Muggle-like clothes had ended up soiled and used as kitchen rags. His food magically became cold and bland as soon as it hit his plate at dinner. Some nights, he was sent to his room without food at all.

So by the time the Christmas party arrived, Sirius was resigned to it. He would go through the motions and act his part. It would go the way it normally did. Sirius stayed upstairs until his cousin Andromeda arrived, and then the two of them would sit in the parlor as far away from everyone else as they dared. But when Andromeda got their that afternoon with her sister Narcissa, she looked unmistakably happy.

"Andromeda," Sirius chided. He could feel his mother's stare burn through the shoulder of his ridiculous suit coat. "You know the rules. No smiling in the house, take it outside if you're going to grin."

"Oh please," she huffed, tossing her fur coat at Kreacher. "Is she here yet?"

"Who?"

"Aoife."

"Who the hell is that?" he asked, taking a short swig off of the whiskey he had swiped from the kitchen. It was bitter stuff, but anything to get through this day was welcome.

Ana squinted at him. "Did I not tell you she was coming?"

"I don't even know who that is."

"I could have sworn I told you," she muttered absently. And then she took up her post at the window, waiting and watching for Aoife to arrive. Sirius sat in front of the hearth and watched the fire dance. If he squinted enough, he could pretend he was back in the Gryffindor common room passing time between classes. His heart ached to be back.

The door opened and shut tens of times as members of the Black family and their worthy peers entered the house. His parents were stationed near the door, greeting each one of the guests as warmly as two people without hearts could muster. Sirius was still staring at the orange flames when he caught a snippet of conversation.

"This is a lovely party. I especially enjoy the color coordination of outfits. Is there to be a funeral to follow?"

Andromeda's rich voice came next. "Don't poke fun. If I start laughing we're all in for it."

Briefly confused, Sirius looked up to see Andromeda standing next to two brown haired girls. It nearly stopped his heart to realize why the voice had sounded so familiar. One of the girls was Maeve Byrne.

The last time he had seen her, she had been filled with fury in the hallway outside of Slughorn's infamous Christmas party. He had never seen her so upset before. From what he had gathered from Lily, it seemed that Sorcha Byrne was the cause of it all. It was peculiar to Sirius that Sorcha couldn't seem to let old grudges go.

He watched and waited, trying and failing to parse out why Maeve Byrne of all people was currently standing in his house. Regulus spoke to her briefly before she made a getaway and headed off towards the stairs that led to the upper rooms of the house. Deciding this was his moment, Sirius stood up from his couch and followed her.

He had almost made it to safety when his mother grabbed him sharply by the wrist. He hadn't been quick enough to get out of her sights. "Où est-ce que tu vas?" Where are you off to?

Sirius hated the French language entirely, all because of his mother. It was all an act, a bid to maintain their status as Pureblood Royalty. She went back and forth between French or German, the language of Gellert Grindelwald. Sirius had given up on both; Regulus excelled at the two languages. Walburga always sought to remind Sirius of it.

He yanked his hand away. It didn't matter to her where he was. "Est-ce que ça importe?"

"Imbécile insolent," she muttered. A sure sign he would be paying for this later.

For now, though, he continued towards the stairs. The floorboards groaned softly to his right, and he found Maeve standing in the upper parlor that Walburga Black saved for more intimate affairs. The walls were covered in the Black family tree. It was his least favorite room in the house.

"What are you doing here?"

Maeve jumped and pressed a hand to her chest. "Christ. I was trying to find the toilet and I ended up in here."

"No," he said, voice dangerously cold. "What are you doing here. In my house."

"Your cousin, Ana—Andromeda, invited my sister Aoife. Aoife didn't want to come alone," Maeve explained. He hadn't even realized Maeve had another sister. Clearly, this one was far favored over Sorcha.

Sirius glanced over his shoulder. "You shouldn't be in here."

Now Maeve rolled her eyes. It was some nerve she had to act the way she did. "In this room, or in your house?"

"Either, both," he told her. "Did you really think it was going to be great fun coming to a Pureblood Christmas party?"

"No," Maeve shot back. "But Aoife wanted to be here for Ana, and I wanted to be here for Aoife."

"This is quite the complicated line of events, Byrne."

They just stared at each other. From Sirius's perspective in his corner of the room, Maeve was wreathed in the branches of his family tree. Everything she wore, everything about her, was wonderfully out of place in a room like this.

"My mother's other parties are actually worse, if you can believe it," Sirius finally said. He stepped deeper into the room and joined her where she stood. She smelled like something earthy, like sage and mint. "This one isn't too bad, yuletide cheer and all. And Andromeda always comes. She's the only cousin I can stand."

Maeve hardly knew what to say. "So they're all–?"

"Blood purity freaks?" He supplied, staring at the wall in front of them. "Well, the ones that weren't got burned off long ago. Andromeda is heading that way now, running around with that Ted Tonks," Sirius said. He was jealous of her. A few more months and she would have graduated and gone from home. Two long years remained ahead of him.

"I can't imagine her parents are very happy with her. Aoife has told me some of the stories."

Aoife, he realized, must be a Slytherin as well. To understand that Maeve had a Slytherin sister made several things clear to him. It explained her anger at his commentary in Potions, and her general open-mindedness. He had once discounted it as idealism, but he understood the truth now.

"They barely speak to her anymore. Her older sister, Bellatrix, isn't even here tonight because she refuses to be in the same room as someone who fraternizes with Muggleborns," he quoted. "Good riddance, I say. She's the worst out of all of them."

"And what about your brother?" Maeve dared to ask. "Regulus?"

"Regulus," Sirius repeated, clenching his fist, "is a good son. He's too impressionable, too easily led. Always mother's favorite, always saying the right things at the dinner table when all I do is send my parents into a rage."

"Being a bad son in a family like this is remarkably brave," Maeve told him.

Sirius stared at her. "Was that a compliment? Did you just compliment me?"

"Oh please," Maeve sighed. "It isn't as if you've never heard it before."

"I've never heard it from a girl that has managed to sneak into my family's holiday party."

"I was invited."

Sirius scoffed. "Tell that to my parents. I already heard my mother muttering about Andromeda and her blood traitor friends." Maeve immediately stiffened, and he regretted the words. "I don't agree with my mother, and even if she thinks you're dirtying her house with your being here, I'm glad for it."

Maeve laughed now. The sound relaxed him. "You're glad I'm here to make your mother upset?"

He shrugged. She had already seen the side of him he tried to hide from everyone, the version of him that inhabited Grimmauld Place. There was no sense in telling anything but the truth now. "I could have done that on my own. Sometimes when I'm here for too long I start to believe that Hogwarts was never real, that it was only an escapist dream I made up. Having someone here who is so–aggressively accustomed to the Muggle world is a relief."

"Agressive is a strong word."

"No one else here is wearing platform boots."

She pressed a hand to her face. "I cannot believe I let Aoife talk me into this. She blends in. I look like a rodeo clown compared to everyone here."

He let out a bark of laughter. "How did she convince you to come, anyway?"

"A bribe," Maeve told him wistfully. "I made a fool of myself at Slughorn's party in front of the witch he wanted me to meet. She's given me a second chance and I'm having lunch with her in London tomorrow."

"Lily told me the entire story. You didn't make a fool of yourself. Sorcha did."

That same fire of fury lit her hazel eyes. "Then you know why I said yes to your deal."

"That can't be the only reason," he prodded.

"Helping Remus is a worthy cause. And I will admit that I've always wondered about the process of becoming an Animagus."

"I didn't say this before," he hesitated. "But you have to promise me you won't try to become one as well."

"I'm not an idiot, Black. I'll help you, but I'm not foolish enough to join you."

"Good," he told her.

Andromeda burst into the room. Her cheeks were beginning to pink, a clear sign that she had been going at the mulled wine. "We're leaving!"

"You are?" Sirius said, dismayed.

"No," she repeated, shaking her head. She grabbed Maeve and Sirius by their sleeves. "We're leaving. I've had enough of this. Grab your coats and meet us outside." And then she was gone and running down the stairs again.

"Does this normally happen?" Maeve asked, bewildered.

"Sneaking out of this house? All the time," he told her, walking down the hall towards his room. He shucked off his ridiculous suit jacket and traded it for his beat-to-shit leather one. If they were going to leave unnoticed, he was going to have to climb out the window. He leaned back through the doorway and found Maeve still standing dumbfounded in the hall. "I'll meet you downstairs."

Five minutes later, the four of them were running down the darkening streets. Snow had fallen during the party, coating the homes of Islington with a glittering white. Once the street lights flickered on it was nearly magical. All the sounds of London were soft and muffled. Aoife and Andromeda were both on their way to being entirely pissed, leaving Sirius and Maeve at the mercy of whatever plan they had concocted for the evening. He glanced behind him once, watching Grimmauld Place shrink in the distance. So long as he was out of that house, he didn't care what they did.

"Where the hell are we going?" Sirius called.

Andromeda struggled to breathe against her laughter in the cold. "Do you remember that pub we went to last summer when I was visiting?"

"The Celtic Harp?"

"That's the one! It's proper Irish," she assured Maeve, who was looking skeptical.

"The Guinness is never as good!" Maeve shouted back to her.

"Have you three done this before?" he asked Maeve as they slowed down to a walk. Andromeda and Aoife were fumbling about ahead of them, bumping into each other and laughing like mad.

"This happens every time Ana comes to stay with us."

"I didn't take you for the type."

She socked him in the arm. He knew she had only meant for it to be playful, but it stung. "What? Did you think I was just another Ravenclaw with a stick up their arse?"

"Yes."

"You Gryffindors sure are keen on your stereotypes," she muttered.

At this hour of night, the Celtic Harp was packed to the brim. It was lucky for them, too, because no one even questioned whether they were of age. There was a small stage set up in the corner with a stool and a guitar, but no one was playing any music. Instead, the place was filled with the sound of shouting and the stench of sweat and beer.

"I'll get you a drink!" Aoife shouted at Maeve. She and Andromeda took off towards the bar, leaving Sirius and Maeve to sit alone at the sticky table in the corner.

"It smells like a shoe in here," she told him, careful not to dirty the velvet sleeves of her dress. "Proper Irish my arse."

"Would you rather go back to the party?"

She wrinkled her freckled nose. "Tempting offer, but I'd rather be hit by a snowplow."

Andromeda came back and set two drinks in front of them. Aoife was nowhere to be seen. This fact didn't seem to concern Andromeda or Maeve, so he picked up the glass in front of him. Maeve clinked hers against his and said, "Sláinte."

"Where's Ted tonight?" Sirius asked Andromeda.

"At home, with his perfect functional family," Andromeda slurred. She looked ridiculous in her silk dress with the backdrop of the bar. "I think he's going to ask me to marry him."

Maeve sipped at her Guinness. "I'm certain he will."

"And we'll have children!" she gushed dreamily. "If I have a daughter, I already picked out the name. Nymphadora."

Sirius snorted. "Nymphadora? Your daughter is going to hate you for that."

"It is a beautiful name," she assured him.

This was not how he pictured his night going. If someone had told him he would be ending the evening in a seedy pub with Andromeda, Maeve, and Maeve's sister, he wouldn't have believed them. But he found he was perfectly content. It was perhaps the best end to a Christmas party he had ever had.

Aoife finally re-emerged from the crowd. She ran back to the table and pressed both of her hands down as if this were a matter of serious urgency. "Maeve."

Maeve looked like she was trying very hard not to laugh. "Yes?"

"There's no music."

"I heard."

"No, you didn't hear, because there's no music. Everythin's ready for us."

Sirius wasn't following, but Maeve's expression fell. "Aoife, no. I'm not doin' that here!"

But Aoife was already trying to drag Maeve off her stool. "C'mon, please. This entire pub is waiting for us to play them a song!"

Andromeda, not to be outdone, shouted, "Isn't that right?"

Everyone in their vicinity raised a drunken chorus of yeahs! None of the people had the faintest idea what they were agreeing to.

Maeve looked like she was going to be sick. But she drained her glass, stood up, and before she left the table she pointed at Sirius's drink. "Do you mind?"

He shook his head. "All yours."

She drank the remainder of the whiskey down in one and allowed Aoife to pull her up towards the small wooden platform of the stage. Andromeda had already had too much to drink and she shoved her way to the front of the crowd. Sirius followed behind, grinning like mad. He watched with fascination as Maeve grabbed up the guitar and began to tune it while Aoife adjusted the microphone stand. People were whistling as Aoife grabbed the microphone in her fist. The bartender was attempting to reach the small stage and put a stop to the antics, but several men and women blocked him from advancing. Maeve was remarkably at ease, and he suspected the beer and whiskey were beginning to help.

"Did you know Maeve plays the guitar?" Andromeda said giddily.

He just shook his head, unable to stop staring. The strumming started out uneven and slow, but just as quick, Maeve picked up her pace and sweet music began. "I don't know much about Maeve at all."

"The holly green, the ivy green," Aoife sang. Her voice was clear as day. "The prettiest picture you've ever seen!"

Sirius had never heard the song before, but it seemed that the general population of the pub had. It was a jaunty, Irish tune. Everyone began to sing until the pub was filled with nothing but the sound of one hundred drunken voices and Maeve strumming in time on the stolen guitar.

It's Christmas in Killarney, with all of the folks at home!

When they were finished, the pub erupted in shouts and yells. They got another full song in before the portly bartender shooed them off the stage to make room for the trio that was actually supposed to be performing that evening. The man who played the fiddle, who was red in the face from amused laughter, went up to the bar and ordered a round of drinks for Aoife and Maeve.

By the time they found each other again, Maeve's drink was already gone. Her cheeks were flushed and her wavy hair was a mess. "Sirius!" she shouted gleefully.

"Maeve!" he laughed. "That was incredible."

Even in her state, she still narrowed her eyes and said, "Are you messin' with me?"

He placed his hands on her shoulders to keep her from moving around. It was as if she suddenly had the boundless energy to be everywhere all at once. "No, I'm not."

The band began to play another song. The sound of the fiddle joined the guitar, and people began to dance in the area of the bar that was void of tables. Aoife and Andromeda were spinning each other in dizzying circles.

"Don't tell me you don't dance!" Maeve laughed, grabbing him by the hand.

After a brief stumble of surprise, he let himself be led. What he hadn't told Maeve, and what he refused to admit, was that he had never seen her as another stuck up Ravenclaw. She was entirely an enigma to him. He found her odd, menacing, and distant. But now more than ever she was a light from which it was impossible to look away.

As they danced in the noisy pub, he decided it was better to give in now and admit to himself that Maeve Byrne would never cease to surprise him.

✤

A GLASS of raw eggs was shoved in her face. "Drink."

Maeve blinked open her eyes. Her head was throbbing and she was laying on the couch, still wearing her dress from the previous night. The memories of the pub were all a muddled blur. "Aunt Josey, c'mon–" she groaned.

"Drink it," she said forcefully, "it's already half eight. You need to get off your arse if you want to be lookin' well for your meeting today. And take a shower, you smell like the inside of a boot."

Maeve reluctantly drank the concoction. It was an old hangover standby, but she hated every second of the slimy taste. She rolled off the couch and onto the floor. While she stared at the ceiling, Aoife's pale face appeared in her line of sight.

"Good morning," Aoife told her, yawning. Though clearly hungover, she looked remarkably put together. Unfairly so.

"Did we really perform for an entire pub of drunkards?" Maeve asked, afraid of the answer.

"Indeed," Aoife smiled tiredly.

Maeve rubbed at her face. "Grand."

"Ana stayed here last night, but she's still asleep," Aoife told her quietly. Between Norman the niffler rooting around the small living room and the ruckus Josey was making in the kitchen, it was nearly pointless to whisper.

Sirius, Maeve recalled, had walked himself home. She had watched him walk off and down the street with his hands in the pockets of that ridiculous leather jacket. Maeve remembered thinking to her drunk self that he looked impossibly lonely trudging through the snow.

Maeve showered quickly, dousing herself in an obnoxious amount of her mint shampoo in an attempt to wake up. She dressed in grey bell bottom trousers and a black turtleneck. Josey shoved a muffin in her hands as she ran out the door, terrified to be late. It took two train switches and twenty minutes on the Tube before she was back on the street and walking past the shops and homes of Mayfair. Most of the snow from the previous night had melted with the new day, but it was still beautiful. Children ran down the street ahead of her shouting out to one another in their wool caps. Finally, she came to a stop in front of the coffee shop she was meeting Katerina in. Before she lost her nerve, she pulled open the door and stepped inside.

Katerina Collins was reading a newspaper and stirring a coffee absently. Somehow, having already made a fool of herself in front of this woman made it far easier to take the seat across from her. There was a steaming mug of tea already waiting for her. "Maeve!" Katerina exclaimed cheerily. "How are you finding London?"

"It's lovely," Maeve said. She sipped the tea. English Breakfast, and not too terrible, either.

"I'm sorry you had to come so far. I'll have to let you know the next time my husband and I are in Dublin."

"I'd like that," Maeve smiled.

"I thought we could chat alone before we met up with my mates. And I wanted to tell you not to feel too badly about what happened at Slughorn's party. Those soirees aren't exactly my kind of affair, anyways."

"I've never been much for large parties," Maeve agreed. "But I am incredibly sorry for what happened."

"I told you this in my letter, but I have a sister too," Katerina nodded. She folded up her newspaper and tucked it neatly in her leather purse. "She's two years younger than me. We hated each other, got into fights all the time while we were in school. We were both in Ravenclaw, to make matters even worse."

"And what about now?" Maeve asked.

"Now she's my best friend," Katerina smiled. "I'm sure you hear the same things that were told to me, but age does make a world of a difference."

And yet, Maeve still found that impossible to believe. "Right."

"So," Katerina began. "Why is it that you want to go to Trinity? I have an idea, but I'd like to hear it from you."

Maeve sighed and stared out the window. "When I was little, all I wanted was to go to Hogwarts. Once my eldest sister started going, I wanted so badly to be there, too. But then once my first year had ended, I found myself searching for something else. I love magic, but I loved the learning of it more. There's something about the way Muggle academia functions that has always fascinated me. It's concrete, exacting, visionary."

"But?"

Maeve sighed. "Everyone has always told me I'm a fool for throwing all of the magic away."

"I felt the same way. There are sacrifices to be made, I won't lie about that. But consequence radiates from every decision you make. If this is something you want, and it clearly is, there is nothing wrong with pursuing it. And you don't have to give up the magical world entirely, either. There is a beauty in having your feet in both."

"But it isn't easy."

"No," Katerina told her soberly. "It isn't. I faced skepticism and criticism from both sides. Some wizards, like Slughorn, thought I was wasting my talents. The Muggles I met would never fully know me. People also judged me for attending University as a woman. It takes a great deal of sound character to survive throwing yourself into the wolves."

Maeve leaned in, her curiosity piqued. "Were there times when you doubted your choice?"

"Absolutely," Katerina admitted. "There were moments when I questioned everything. But I kept reminding myself why I started. There was a career I wanted, things I wanted to do with my life that existed outside of the world I was comfortable in."

Maeve hesitated before asking her next question. "Did you ever feel like you didn't fully belong in either world?"

Katerina smiled at this. "You're a Halfblood too, aren't you?"

"I am."

"Yes, there were times I felt like an outsider in both. But over time, I realized that my unique perspective was a thing of value. I could bridge the gap between the two worlds in a way that others couldn't."

Maeve considered this, then asked, "How did you convince the admissions board at Oxford to accept you? You wouldn't even be able to tell them where you attended school."

Katerina chuckled. "It wasn't easy. I had to be creative in presenting my skills and knowledge. But as I said, we aren't original in our ambitions. There's an entire network of witches and wizards who exist in the Muggle world. They're quieter now, especially with the rise of the Dark Lord, but that doesn't mean their connections have lost any strength."

Maeve's lips parted. "I had no idea."

"We are a remarkably creative bunch," Katerina said as she finished her coffee. "C'mon. Let's walk."

✤ ✾ ✤

a/n this is so niche but Katerina Collins is actually the name of the oc in my Sirius Black fic that I wrote at approx. age 15. She lives on in a better form here.

The pub scene was so fun to write omg it makes me want Christmas so badly. Sirius & Maeve's relationship is going to be an incredibly slow burn, but here we're picking up the pace on their friendship. You'll see in the next chapters how this manifests back at Hogwarts, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter!! And also I've realized that there isn't a good ship name for Sirius&Maeve (Sireve?  idk that's all I got), so Sirius&Maeve they shall be.

&&& I have a special surprise!  My birthday is tomorrow and I know I said I was ahead on the writing, so I thought it would be the perfect day for a bonus update :)