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December 1980
the Potter-Black residence
Thea let out all of the air and pent up anxiety in her as Sirius ran his hands up and down her sides.
The mission had gone over. They'd needed to improve, but hadn't told anyone. Communication was risky, especially where they were.
Thea didn't know what had happened and had elected to fear the worse, so she could prepare herself in the event that she was right and could be overjoyed if it was better.
She shook softly as silent tears cascaded down her cheeks. She was by no means clingly, but Sirius had been gone for three weeks on one of the most dangerous missions that the Order had ever assigned and had stopped all communication after nine days.
She had been assigned to the case, but they were very close to taking her off as she had an emotional investment. But, they were low on analysts, or rather good ones, so she had to stay on, though she shouldn't have.
Sirius's small duffle and coat were strewn, forgotten on the floor. The only thing he could focus on was the uneven breathing of Thea. Of the woman, he couldn't wait to call, officially, his.
He felt as her body shook and he could feel that she was trying not to admit to herself that she was crying. She'd always had a weird pride in herself that she was never outwardly emotional. But something like this, this was something not even Lily and James had experienced. Dumbledore had denied both of their requests to go on the mission because of the baby.
Sirius stopped rubbing her sides and elected to hold her firmly. Let her know that he was there and that he was safe.
She then pulled away and sniffed, still trying to ignore the salty tears that ran down her now red face.
"I made chicken and potatoes for dinner, is that alright?" she asked as she cleared her throat.
"That sounds wonderful, my love," Sirius said with smiling eyes.
He didn't want to cry, nor did he. He was too happy to be home. All he could do was smile.
"You can then tell me all about the mission," she continued as she turned and lead him to the kitchen.
"It was very exciting, I don't think even you could've predicted what happened," Sirius teased.
"Really?" Thea asked with a worried tone, "they were that well prepared?"
Sirius cringed at the insinuation.
"No, not like that. I'll tell you about it after we have the best meal of our lives!" he announced to only Thea.
"I'm sure it's not the best-" Thea protested.
"It's the best," Sirius said firmly as Thea started to chuckle a little bit.
And there they were, those damn butterflies. They sprung up as she laughed lightly. The same butterflies that hadn't left since they walked back from the lake during the summer before Sirius's 7th year and Thea's 6th year.
As she finished prepping the meal, she looked up with serious eyes.
"Don't ever scare me like that again," she said sternly.
"I know," she said as she plated the meal and handed one of them to Sirius.
They sat down at the table across from each other. Sirius quickly tucked in, not having had a meal like this in a while. She ate slowly as she assessed him to see if he was truly as ok as he claimed.
"But next time, I'll send smoke signals," Sirius joked.
