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"You really gave everyone a scare, kid," said Sirius Black as he dusted the floo-dust from his jacket.
"How do you mean?" asked Quinn.
"Don't act coy, kid," Sirius chuckled carelessly, but the curve of his smile was modest, and there was a glint of seriousness in his grey eyes. "You know what I am talking about."
"I don't think a simple wave of the hand would be something to freak about."
"It wouldn't be if the recipient was expecting one, but they weren't, were they."
"In my defense, they weren't well-hidden."
"So you say, but they got a scare when you suddenly appeared."
The Golden Squad looked between Quinn and Sirius, confused by the ongoing conversation, and interjected by asking to be cued into the conversation. But before either Quinn or Sirius could explain, James and Lily Potter entered the lounge.
"You were coming today, Sirius?" said Lily in surprise. "What should I do? I don't think we have enough food for another person."
"It's alright, dear; we have some dog chow. I'm sure Padfoot would be satisfied with that," said James, smirking.
"Haha, dog food, haha," Sirius said to James. "Couldn't come up with something remotely funny, could you."
"I found it ample funny," said James.
"It was hilarious, Sirius," Harry chimed, sharing identical smirks with his father.
"I knew I should've gotten myself a little me," Sirius grumbled, "at least I shouldn't have been double-tagged like this."
Lily sighed at Sirius, James, and Harry's antics before asking, "You should've let us know that you were coming, I would've prepared accordingly. . . . Let me see if I can make something with leftovers."
"It's alright; you don't have to do that," said Sirius. "I'm not staying for dinner; I wasn't even coming today."
"Did something at the office?" asked James.
Sirus shook his head. He nudged his chin to Quinn, "Your little guest surprised the people outside. If you hadn't told them you were having a guest and the fact that Harry talked to him on the doorstep, things could've gone poorly."
James and Lily turned to Quinn, who just shrugged.
"How did they miss him?" James asked; gone was the chipper tone replaced by a serious tinge.
Sirius turned to Quinn and asked, "You want to take this, or should I."
"I was under an invisibility spell," said Quinn. "I mean, I wasn't going to be walking through a hybrid village like this without some sort of guise to keep the non-magicals away. It would've been troublesome if an overly friendly chap decided to strike up a conversation."
"Justified," James turned to Sirius. "They should've detected him."
"I know; I'll plan some upgrades and make sure this doesn't happen again. . . . But I am surprised that you were able to detect them at all," Sirius said to Quinn.
"Not all of them were that obvious," Quinn crossed his hands. "I guess a couple of them hadn't taken shadows and distortion into consideration while casting. My eye caught the slight unnaturalness, and then I started to look for more, making things more. . . transparent to me. But I guess if I wasn't looking for them, it would be fine if the weak links were strengthened."
"But that's the problem; those coming under guise will be looking for those weak links," said Lily with furrow between her brows. "Sirius, please ensure that this doesn't happen again. James, you as well."
Quinn glanced at Sirius. It seemed that he was in charge of the protection of Potter House.
He felt a tug on his arm. He turned and found Ivy close enough that he could make out the vibrancy and pattern in her emerald eyes. 'Ah, I am really conscious of her,' such thought passed his mind.
"What is happening," she asked.
"I found people outside of your house, hidden under Invisibility Spells and Muggle-Repelling Charms, and I spotted them. It seems that they are keeping an eye on your house for protection." He turned to James and Sirius, "Are they Aurors?"
"Sorry kid, can't tell," said Sirius, winking.
'So, Aurors who are part of the Order of Phoenix,' thought Quinn.
"There are people outside our house?!" Ivy exclaimed in surprise, along with the rest of the Golden Squad. It seemed they weren't aware that they had been under surveillance.
"It does make sense," said Hermione, "to have people keeping a lookout, that is."
Quinn agreed. Unlike the general public, those connected to the Order of Phoenix were well aware(and in acceptance) of Voldemort's return. It was only natural to have people stationed outside the Potter House. Quinn could even guess that if given a chance to examine the Aegis wards, they would be the top-of-the-line and connected to the DMLE's emergency response service. He looked around, also wondering if there was a Labyrinth door hidden somewhere in the lounge— he was sure that the Potters had one.
The situation, however, did make Quinn wonder if the Potters had lost confidence in the Fidelius Charm. Having betrayed by someone who they considered to be their closest confidant was an emotional hit that most people won't want to go against ever again— so Quinn didn't put it against the Potters to be averse against the use of the ward that had promised them safety, but had resulted in the loss of dear family.
'Or maybe there's another safe house under the Fidelius, ready at a moment's notice,' Quinn looked at the three adults, wondering if they knew the location of the hypothetical location.
Quinn silently waited as the adults revealed the security arrangements around the Potter House (the talk was short and only a rough overview, given that Quinn was present in the room.)
"Alright, enough about this; we have a guest with us today." Lily put an end to the topic.
"Then I will be off," said Sirius. "See you tomorrow, mate—"
"No, now that you're here, stay for dinner," said Lily. "I will sort something out." She turned to Quinn, "Look at me, dear. You have been here for a while, and we haven't even offered you anything to drink," she gave a sharp glance to her children.
"It's alright, Mrs. Potter. The invitation to the dinner today gives me another chance to try your fabulous cooking. I haven't forgotten the taste from the last time I was here," said Quinn politely.
His words had their intended effect of instantly raising his affinity points of likeability with Lily. The last time he had done this was just because of fun, but this time the stakes were high, and he needed the Potter parents to fall in love with him.
'I need to become the son they never had,' thought Quinn as he stood up and took out a matchbox-sized box. He expanded it to its full size and presented it to Lily. "This is just a little thank you gift for inviting me to dinner today. It's set of cured meats and cheeses, and there's a bottle of wine from my grandfather inside."
Quinn didn't miss the glances that James and Sirius shared when he mentioned his grandfather.
"Oh my, you didn't have to bring us anything," said Lily, accepting the box.
Quinn continued to smile politely. His gift game was strong.
"That solves the dinner problem," said Sirius grinning with a thumbs up to Quinn.
"Sirius, I already set up some beans on the stove for you," said Lily as she sent Quinn's gift somewhere inside the house. "I thought you'd be fine with beans on toast."
". . . You have been standing here for the entire while I have been here."
"Magic, silly. Come on now, we don't waste food in our house."
"But I don't want to eat beans on toast."
"You're not a child anymore, Sirius. Don't act like one."
The little banter between Lily and Sirius seemed to push the slight heaviness because of the protection situation behind and bring in a light and bright suitable for when guests were visiting.
As they moved to the dining hall, Ivy subtly bumped into his shoulder. She was smiling when he glanced at her, obviously happy with Quinn's performance. And what could Quinn say— sometimes, he lived to impress.
The dinner table was set up with a beautiful spread of appetizing food. There were three chairs each on the lengths of the table and one each on the heads of the table. Quinn could feel that the table had been expanded and that four of the eight chairs were conjured— copies of a single chair(of the four real ones) made from the Geminio charm. Quinn took a corner chair along one of the lengths, and again, to his surprise, Ivy took the chair beside him(on the table's length). He was perfectly fine with Ivy sitting beside him but wasn't the plan to not seem suspicious? He thought she would sit beside Hermione, who had taken a chair on the opposite with Harry sitting beside her.
In the end, Quinn, Ivy, and Sirius sat along the table's length. Lily took a chair on the table's head just beside Quinn, with James sitting directly in front of Quinn. Harry and Hemione sat beside James. Finally, Ron took the other table head.
"The food looks amazing, Mrs. Potter," said Quinn in unrestricted praise.
James, who sat opposite to him, sneakily rolled his eyes. It seemed that it was going to be a repeat of the last year.
"You know, I was amazed when James told me that Mad-Eye wanted you to join the force," said Sirius at the table. "Moody doesn't believe in soliciting people for the Auror Office— he believes that the least requirement for an Auror aspirant is for them to apply on their own without any persuasion. So I couldn't believe it when I heard about it."
"Mad-Eye said what?!" Harry exclaimed as his food fell from his fork.
"Believe it or not, but 'that' Moody even compared Quinn here with Dumbledore," said James adding to the conversation.
That made eyes go wide around the table. Comparision to Albus Dumbledore was a high praise, but that praise was elevated to another level when it came from someone like Alastor Moody.
"I am sure he was jesting," said Quinn.
"Moody doesn't jest, kid," laughed Sirius as if hearing an amusing joke. "But really, why don't you give the Auror training program a try? It has some great perks, and I think you'll have great fun there. They even pay you just for being in training."
Quinn snorted internally. He knew that the Auror training was a notoriously tough program. Long hours, no work-life flexibility, and standards that made even the most talented of the bunch find themselves running around trying to keep up with the program. It was akin to a young doctor starting their residency, working enough hours that they earned a very low hourly rate even with their hefty salaries. Quinn wasn't interested, so he was going to join something that would make something that would dominate his life.
"Alright, that's it, you're making him uncomfortable," Lily turned to Quinn. "If I remember correctly, Professor Flitwick told me that you're planning to go into magic research. But, I'm confused about what field you're aiming for."
"I'm keeping my options open," said Quinn. "I actually want to pursue everything from Transfiguration to Herbology. I will need varying knowledge if I want to pursue some advanced magics like Alchemy."
"Just like Dumbledore," commented Sirius.
Lily didn't pay him attention. "That's admirable, Quinn. Even Ivy is aiming to go into magic research— she's starting with Warding magic, which will take her to aim to gain mastery in both Charms and Runes," she said with pride in her eyes as she looked at Ivy.
"I know," said Quinn turned to Ivy, "I was there when Ivy was talking to Professor McGonagall about her NEWT subjects. Aiming for Warding instead of taking Charms and Runes individually shows commitment which I immensely respect."
Ivy seemed to be conscious of the sudden attention, or maybe it was because of Quinn that she bowed her head in embarrassment, but as Quinn was beside her, he could see a smile blooming on her face.
Below the table, suddenly, he felt Ivy's hand intertwining with his own. Quinn held himself from reacting. He knew that Ivy Potter was bold, but now it was confirmed.
"Oh, look at you, all matching, that's cute," said Sirius with his brows wiggling at Quinn with a grin on his face.
Quinn knew what Sirius implied. Only if he knew. . . .
It was then that Ron joined the conversation. It seemed as he understood Sirius was implying as he spoke,
"Quinn is going out with Daphne Greengrass."
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Quinn West - MC - A security scare.
Ivy Potter - Girlfriend - Bold and bolder.
FictionOnlyReader - Author - Moved to another city for internship. COVID-test's nose swab felt. . . weird. Wrote a chapter while on the job. Writing through out the day is a new experience. Looking forward to the next 2 months.
