Summary: What happens when two completely romantically challenged people fall for one another after years of friendship? Yeah, utter chaos. This is the tale of Sirius Black and Ashley White, two very unconventional teenagers, and how they develop over the years. The story begins during their fifth year, and will probably end sometime after their seventh.
Okay, so after a year or so of not writing a single word, I've decided to begin writing again. So read it, and let me know if you love it. If you hate it, then just keep it to yourself. Nah, I'm kidding, let me know if you hate it, too, and I'll try to do anything I can to fix it. Enjoy the story, and please review.
A Hell of a Kiss
There was something changing. The weather, for one, had been foggy and cold for months on end, and it wasn't even September yet. And there was a dreadful depression in the air. Something was definitely off. Of course, those working at the Ministry, or anyone of any high ranking in the Wizarding World, knew precisely what was going on. The Dark Lord was rising to power, and the death toll was higher than it had been in a century. Muggles everywhere were being tortured and viciously murdered. The Minister of Magic, Vaspera Bagshawe, was great at her job, but even she didn't stand a chance against Lord Voldemort. Nobody did.
Ashley White had always been an incredibly powerful girl. Her Aunt Vaspera had always said she could easily proceed her as Minister of Magic someday, not that such a thing appealed to Ashley much. Ashley had always seen herself as an auror, seeing as she had a love for danger and combat. She was never truly happy unless she was off somewhere saving the day. She had always had a thirst for adventure.
You could say it was in her blood. After all, both her parents, two of her Uncles, one of her Aunts, and her eldest brother were aurors. Ashley had always been incredibly smart. In fact, she may just be the smartest girl in her year. Right up there with Lily Evans, of course. As sweet and kind as she could be most of the time, she could be equally mean and rude when it came to those she didn't like, or if she was joking around, which was what she did most of the time. Ashley had a repuation for her sarcasm and sense of humor. Well, it's no doubt she has a sense of humor, always hanging around those Marauders! But how could she not? For her entire life, one of them had lived in the manor right next door.
It was an afternoon in mid-August and Ashley White sat at her desk, writing a letter to her friend, Lily Evans, who would be coming to stay for the last two weeks of the summer holidays. "Hey," came a familiar voice from the window. Ashley didn't even bother turning her head.
"I have a front door, James," Ashley rolled her eyes, "You'd think after fifteen years you'd have found it by now."
"Oh honestly, Ashley. You of all people know I'm never very quick to pick up on things," James joked.
"The guy makes a good point," said another voice and this time, Ashley spun around at the speed of lightning.
"Sirius!" she cried, springing from her desk and running across the large bedroom, giving the tall boy a hug.
"I'm not going to pretend that didn't hurt," James said with mock-hurt, folding his arms and collapsing onto Ashley's bed, "I guess you like him more than me."
"You know I love both of you gits equally," Ashley said, hitting James over the head.
"You sure know how to kick a guy when he's down," James pouted.
"Oh, give it a rest, will you?" Ashley laughed.
"So, when's Lily arriving?" James couldn't help but ask.
Ashley sighed, "Tomorrow afternoon. Really, James, leave the girl alone, okay?"
"You say that every summer," James reminded her.
"Because you never listen!" Ashley said hotly.
"I can't help it!" James burst out, "I honestly can't! Believe me, I've tried."
"You have to try harder," Ashley advised him, "Or you two will never happen, and you'll die alone."
"Gee, I'm sure glad I have you to comfort me in my time of need. I don't know what I'd possibly do without you," James sighed, "I know I have to try harder though. I know I do. I really hate that she hates me."
"Then don't make her hate you, mate," Sirius shrugged.
"Sirius Black, you're the last person to be giving out any type of love advice," Ashley snapped at him.
"How can you say that?" Sirius asked, outraged, "I make more love than everyone at Hogwarts put together!"
Ashley rolled her eyes and ignored her old friend, "You know, my sister and her boyfriend started off like you and Lily."
James seemed to perk up at this, "They've been together for a year now, right?"
"Right," Ashley said, glad she had lifted his spirits a bit.
"Ashley? Did you eat the last cauldron cake?" Samantha White asked, entering the room.
"Aw, PMS got you down, sis?" Ashley joked.
Samantha made a face as if she had just sucked on a lemon, "Very funny. Did you or didn't you?"
"Didn't," Ashley responded, and Samantha was about leave, when Ashley said, "Wait a moment."
Samantha spun around, "What's up?"
"James needs some comforting. Tell him how big an ass Andrew was before you started going out."
At the mention of this, Samantha immediately collapsed into a big circular chair in the room, happy to talk about her life, "A huge bloody ass. He was the most obnoxious, arrogant little prick I had ever known. But I guess somewhere deep, deep inside of me I didn't hate him at all. Maybe I just didn't want to be another swooning girl. Actually, you know what it was that made me go out with him? When he stopped asking me out. That really did it. It drove me mad. And then it drove me even more mad because I was driven mad. If that makes sense. After that, I was pretty much puddy in his hands."
"Really?" James said thoughtfully, "Hmmm..."
"Well, if you'll excuse me," Samantha stood up, "I've got a White sibling to destroy."
"Is your Uncle Cash gunna be dropping by at all?" James said hopefully. Ashley was from a very well-connected family. One of her Aunts was Minister of Magic, another Aunt played for the Holyhead Harpies, an Uncle who played for the Ballycastle Bats, an Uncle who was a famous broom designer, an Aunt who was a well-known writer, and half a dozen Aurors. No wonder Slughorn loved her so much.
"How are you related to him again?" Sirius asked.
"He's my mom's sister's husband's brother, so my Uncle's brother, which I guess makes him my Uncle, or Uncle-in-Law," Ashley shrugged.
"Wicked," James and Sirius said in unison.
"Is Remus finally gunna come by this summer?" Ashley asked James.
"No," James frowned, "You know he likes to stay with his mother during the holidays. I extend the invitation year after year, but I guess I can't blame him. I'd want to spend as much time as possible with my mother, too, if she were that ill."
The next morning Ashley arose at 10:28 a.m. She took a shower and dressed in faded, ripped jeans and a white t-shirt. She pulled her blonde hair up into a pony-tail and put on some make-up. By the time she was finished, it was 11:45 and Lily, along with three of their other friends would be arriving in about fifteen minutes.
Ashley lived in a huge house. There was a kitchen, a dining room, the sitting room, the parlor, the conservatory, the library, the study, six bathrooms, and seven bedrooms. Then, there was the Guest Tower. A whole tower on the East Wing of the house was created by magic for guests. Seeing as people were staying with the White's frequently. Every floor was sort of its own hotel. There were two bedrooms connected by a bathroom. It had about seven floors, and on the roof of the tower, was the most beautiful view of the ocean you could ever imagine.
Ashley's siblings' friends were arriving as well today. Ashley's father, Elias White, had gone off to fetch Lily himself, since she was the only muggle-born of the kids. At 12 on the dot, Katrina Colebrooke arrived through the fireplace. "Kat!" Ashley grinned, giving her friend a hug.
"Hey!" Katrina said, hugging her back and smiling, "Am I the first to arrive?"
"No, everyone else is just under an invisibility cloak," Ashley said smartly.
"That's a new record," Katrina said impressedly, "Six seconds and the first sarcastic remark has already come out."
"Where's Mitchie?" Ashley asked.
Katrina rolled her eyes, "Doing her hair." But after a few more minutes of talking, Amanda Mitchell, Katrina's little cousin, arrived at the manor.
Katrina was a fellow fifth year Gryffindor. She had long brown hair with the occassional blonde highlight and pale bluish green eyes. She was the tallest in their group of friends. Katrina was a very light-hearted care-free kind of person. She never really let things get to her and she was almost always in a good mood. Somehow, the girl could see the bright side in nearly any situation. Her cousin, known to the group mainly as Mandy or Mitchie, was the exact opposite in personality. She was a pretty big pessimist, and always had somethng to complain about. You'd think this to be annoying, but surprisingly, Amanda was quite easy to get along with, and everyone seemed to like her. Amanda had dirty blonde hair, pale blue eyes, and tanned skin. She always looked as if she were glowing.
The girls sat on the couch in the parlor for a few more minutes, talking about their summers, when the fire turned green again and two girls stepped out one at a time. The first, tall with light brown hair, hazel eyes, and bronzed skin. Her most distinguishing feature were her thick, full bloodred lips. Dark lipstick had always been her trademark. The next girl had a face that wasn't unlike that of a porcelain doll's. Her eyes were extremely similar to the first girl's, but the similarities ended there. She had thin, tight-looking lips and was much paler than the first girl.
Everybody hugged and said their hellos. "Sam! Saoirse's here!" Ashley called upstairs to her sisters. Saorise Darby was seventeen, and going into her seventh year at Hogwarts along with her best friend, Samantha. Saoirse's little sister, Shiloh, was about to go into her fifth year, as Ashley, Katrina, and Lily were.
Samantha and Megan both came bounding down the sitting room staircase and ran to say hello to everyone. Just then, a gorgeous woman in her mid-fourties entered the parlor, wearing a long red skirt and a black blouse. "Hi, girls," she said, happily giving each a hug.
"Hi, Mrs. White," they chorused.
Serena White pointed her wand at the trunks that accompanied the girls and one by one they soared through the air, into the hallway, and vanished from sight. "Who else is coming again?" Serena looked at Ashley, Samantha, and Megan.
"Uh, Lily should be here with dad soon and Mischa's never been on time for anything in her life. The girl was eight and a half days late for her own birth," Ashley answered.
"It's just Mandy for me," Megan told her mother, "Sienna's parents want her home for the holiday and Kayce's on vacation in Greece."
Just then the fire turned green again and out came Elias White and Lily Evans, "Lily!" the girls shouted, ambushing her with hugs.
"Hey," Lily said happily, "Hi, Mrs. White."
"Hi, dear. Ah, let me get that for you," Serena pointed her wand at Lily's luggage and it zoomed out of the room as the others had.
"Thanks," Lily said, looking around at everyone, and Ashley could tell she noticed Mischa had yet to arrive.
"I know, Mischa's late. We were all in a deep shock," Ashley joked.
As if on cue, there was a noise, and in the distance, a voice could be heard saying, "Hello? Ashley? Mr. and Mrs. White? Anyone home?"
"Where is she?" Shiloh asked, looking around.
Ashley turned around and walked out of the room and across the hall, "Oh, there you are," Mischa said, running over and hugging her friend.
"Yeah, everyone came from the parlor," Ashley informed her.
"Oh! I wasn't sure if it was the sitting room or the parlor. You guys really do have too many rooms in this house."
Ashley smiled and led her friend back into the parlor, where everyone said hello to her, and her bags were magicked away. "Okay, girls, why don't you head over to the Guest Tower and unpack while I whip up some lunch?"
The girls agreed and walked down the large hallway, passing the library, the kitchen, and the conservatory to get to the entrance of the tower.
"So, who's bunking with who?" Saoirse asked.
"Uh, Mitchie and Katrina are on the first floor, Saoirse and Shiloh on the second, and Lily and Mischa on the third," Megan answered. The girls continued talking while they dropped each pair off to their assigned room. Then, from the front of the house, the doorbell rang.
"Not it," Megan and Samantha said in unison, looking at Ashley who was mid-sentence with Mischa.
"That's not fair! I was talking," Ashley complained.
"Sucks for you," Megan shrugged. Ashley sighed and ran down the spiral staircase and out of the tower. She began walking down the hallway, made a left into another corridor, and then a right to reach the front door. She opened it and sighed once more. "You pick today to find my front door? You prat."
"Aw, it's nice to see you, too, Ashley," James smiled, "Your greetings have improved a lot. Good job." With that, James patted her on the head.
"What do you want, Potter?" Ashley asked through gritted teeth.
"To see my best friend in the world, of course!" James said, flashing an even wider smile.
Ashley rolled her eyes, "Lily's on the third floor of the Guest Tower."
"Seeya!" James said, sprinting off in the direction Ashley had just come.
During her whole conversation with James, Ashley had failed to notice Sirius. He grinned at her, wickedly handsome as ever. Ashley smiled back, leaned in, and kissed him passionately on the lips. She could tell he was a bit surprised at first, but he returned the kiss after a moment, and Ashley broke it the second she felt his tounge on her lips. Slowly, she pulled away and looked up at him.
"Never tried that sober before," Ashley joked.
"Yeah, I know," Sirius said confusedly, "So why now?"
"No time like the present," Ashley shrugged, but he still looked confused, "Don't read so much into it. It's what we do, remember?"
"Yeah, when we're drunk out of our minds."
"Complaining?" Ashley raised an eyebrow.
"Not at all," he said, leaning in for another kiss, but Ashley stepped back and smiled.
"I don't want you getting too used to it," she explained, "It was just an impulse."
"You're sick, you know that?" Sirius said resentfully.
"Believe me, I know," Ashley replied, walking off down the hallway.
Sirius shook his head, trailing behind her. That was the first time they had ever kissed without being intoxicated. They shared their first kiss when Sirius stole firewhisky from the Three Broomsticks at the end of third year. Ashley's Aunt Delma was the only one still working, and Ashley had Delma talk about her marital problems with her husband, Neil, which distracted her long enough for Sirius to summon the alcohol without being noticed. It happened again twice at the beginning of fourth year, once during the middle, and three times toward the end. It just turned into something they did when they were drunk, and it worked out damn well for the both of them, seeing as neither were the commited relationship type. And to be sure the friendship wouldn't be ruined, they only went as far as kissing and only did it when they were drunk. Until today, Sirius added to himself. It's funny how the King of Casualty could be so stunned by Ashley's casualness about the whole ordeal. It's because she's my best friend, Sirius thought. He was just worried about the friendship. It was very important to him, after all.
Sirius touched his lips with two of his fingers and smirked a bit. It had been a hell of a kiss.
Okay, first chapter up, and depending on how my reviews are, I'll try to post a next chapter asap!
