Finn Lynch lives a quiet, tranquil life in a rural village in the mountains. Her life may lack spontaneity and excitement, but at least it's peaceful. And if it's a little lonely too, then she can't complain too much - she's still happy, after all.
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In the days following Finn's reluctant agreement to Regulus' insane idea, she spends a lot of time out of the house.
She feels like a bit of a coward, but she can't quite bring herself to look Regulus in the eye.
Why did she agree to his madcap idea? The more she thinks about it, the more ridiculous it all seems. For one thing, she's sure that Al will see through it immediately. He's always been a distrustful man by nature, and his career has pushed him into being downright paranoid — surely he'll be able to tell right off the bat that something is wrong.
And even if Al does believe it and allows her to go with them to wherever it is that they go, how on earth could Regulus expect other people to believe that the two of them are in any way involved with each other?
She's sure that he's far from the only wizard who will view her as inferior just because she doesn't have magic, and she's not looking forward to having to suffer through doubtful looks that she'll no doubt be on the receiving end of.
She takes to her usual way of working out stress; she slips down to the large grassy field behind the house, and plays a mini game of hurling all by herself. There's something immensely satisfying about slamming the sliotar with all of her might through the air, and then running as fast as her legs will carry her to fetch it.
It's sufficiently tiring enough to take her mind off everything, and she enjoys the way her muscles burn and her legs grow wobbly from the exercise. The routine is comforting, and she ends up trudging happily back to the house every time.
About a week after Regulus suggests his silly relationship plan to her, Finn trudges back to the house with her muscles burning pleasantly and her breath coming in tired pants. Her legs are covered in mud and blades of grass, and her hair is frizzing awfully in the haphazard pile she's collected it in on her head.
She feels amazing.
The rain is positively torrential, with heavy dark clouds menacing over the sky, and Finn is absolutely drenched. Even though she leaves her muddy shoes at the front door, her socks are still wet from the rain and they leave obvious footprints on the floor.
She swears softly, and begins trying to take them off without stopping on the way to the kitchen — she's starving. That's how she ends up entering the kitchen while hopping clumsily on one foot as she tries to extract the other from the wet sock that seems to have her ankle in a stranglehold.
Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Regulus standing near the oven. Even though she's not properly looking at him, she can see the look of confused disbelief pass over his face as he looks at her, before it smooths over into a neutral expression.
"Hello, darling." Regulus says smoothly. "What exactly are you doing?"
Finn's head snaps up so that she can level him with an incredulous look; who the fuck does he think he's talking to right now?
