"God of My Idolatry" by Meg.
I don't own Harry Potter…I simply enjoy using the characters conjured up J.K. Rowling for my own sweet pleasure.
Pairing: Ginny Weasley /Sirius Black
A/N: I realize that this is a bit unorthodox. Bear with me...they really work well together. I swear. This is also AU. Please pretend that somehow, Sirius did not die and being beyond the veil was only a temporary state. By the way, the title is a throw back to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
Songs: "A Bad Dream" by Keane and "Chasing Cars" by the Snow patrol
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With a single touch of her finger she was able to elicit a low growl of pain from his throat. His lips drawn back, he bared his teeth to her. Sharp teeth that, by nature, sought to partake of her flesh. To consume. She held the beast down, hands at his broad neck and knees at his hind legs, and it took all her strength to do so. He thrashed beneath her, putting up a good fight.
"You've got one damn huge dog here, Charles!" She called, looking over her shoulder at Charlie through the tangle of vibrant copper hair falling over her face.
"Why thank you, Ginevra!" He called back, laughing. She sounded just like their mother when she used his full name. "A monster of a dog suits a monster of a man!" He grinned teasingly.
Seeming to agree, the giant of a dog gave one last attempt at escape, flailing with renewed strength. Thrown backwards onto the rock-studded ground, Ginny shouted in utter frustration. This was the third time she'd been able to capture the rogue animal, and also the third time she'd lost her control over him and ended up on the ground. Her body weight alone was not enough to overcome him, and her wand was well out of reach.
"Damn you, Sirius..." She mumbled under her breath, cursing him for succumbing to his wolf-like instincts to resist her. She did agree that to maintain appearances and to keep suspicions off of the black beast, he had to behave like a normal dog. She could hardly call this 'normal behavior'!
Out of the camp of dragon trainers, only she and Charlie knew that "Snuffles" was not just Charlie's enormous companion. Animagus and on the run from the Ministry, Sirius was endangering himself by stepping one paw outside of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, let alone venturing as far a Romania. Perhaps, Romanians are less aware of the infamous murderer, Sirius Black, Ginny thought. Perhaps they no longer cared. Ten years was a long time to care about an escaped murderer, considering that the incident had occurred nearly thirteen years before the now decade old escape.
Ginny got to her feet and slapped the dusty dirt from the thighs of her pants. The flesh of her hands was mottled, the rocks having pressed into her skin as she fell had, temporarily, disfigured them. She could feel the tingling sensation of blood rushing back into her dimpled, tender flesh. The feeling was similar to the awakening of sleeping limbs, and it was not one she overly enjoyed. She felt the urge to hex the beastly dog with her wand, but to his luck, in an earlier try it had been flung too far for her to act quickly.
"Third time's the charm, eh, Gin?" Charlie laughed in the distance, his face breaking into a grin.
She rolled her eyes at her brother and fancied flipping him the bird, but stopped herself. "Snuffles" had neared again, eyeing her carefully. Despite the fact that this was the only fun Sirius got to have, she didn't like it being at her expense. She'd had enough of this for today. Plucking up her wand, she crouched down and sat on her heels, wiping the sweat from her brow. The Romanian sun beat down on her, scorching her once-delicate, now calloused and worn skin.
"I give up!" She conceded after imagining herself on the ground again, after another failed attempt at containing the wild wizard. He barked at her, trying to goad her on, but she merely fanned herself and rose to walk off.
Her boots crunched on the ground as she traversed the field, eyes set on the series of drooping tents at the far end. Although the beaten, faded tents didn't look like much to the muggle eye, inside each one was enchanted into a several room tent-palace, complete with full plumbing, a kitchen and multiple bed rooms. The green-grey tent at the far end belonged to Ginny and her older brother, Charlie. That also meant that it belonged to "Snuffles".
Once Ginny had crawled into the low tent, she laced the flaps shut. Walking to the vast kitchen, she rubbed the sore muscles of her neck with one hand and unbuttoned her over-shirt with the other. Absent-mindedly, she flipped the faucet on and let the plugged sink fill with water. She lower her head into the basin to wash her face and marveled at her reflection. Dirt and sweat was caked so thickly on her skin that she was barely recognizable. She splashed the water over her face, eyes closed, and let this physical reminder of the day wash away with the water.
Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.
"Go away, Sirius..." She mumbled, hearing his dull scraping at the door. She sighed and smiled to herself, knowing he could not take human form to unlace the flaps. He couldn't give himself away, and therefore was forced to wait for her to open the tent for him. Such power, Ginny thought.
First there was the scratching. Then there was the whimpering. Persistent whimpering. Finally there came muted howls.
He was trying his best to get her attention while attracting minimal attention from the men in Charlie's group. Instead of responding to his pleas for entry, she sat by the door flap. She knew he could smell her with his canine-enhanced senses. This amused her further. The noise and the scratching finally died down, she heard a low panting noise, and then nothing. She bolted up.
"Snuffles!" Ginny yelped, wondering in the back of her mind if the dragon bite had been deep enough to make him pass out. As fast as her fingers could do the job, she unlaced the door flap and looked down to see his limp form lying on the ground. She gasped, and clasped her hands over her mouth, terrified that her game had gone too far. She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that when she opened them again, he wouldn't really be there like that. Harry's going to kill me, was all she could manage to think.
However, when she opened her eyes, part of her wish had come true. He wasn't there. Instead he was just beyond the inside threshold, tail wagging and nipping at her pant leg. A small smile washed over her lips. Of course, she thought, Damn marauders, always with their tricks! She let the flap fall and laced it before anyone else could slip in. Despite his games, she could also see that he'd left a trail of blood in his wake.
"Let me see it." She said firmly, pulling her wand out.
Before her eyes the dog became a man. His limbs lengthened and the mane of coarse black hair thinned and receded. The whole constitution of his frame altered, he stood and ordered her to turn around. She had so quickly forgotten that being a dog meant nudity when you returned to human. She blushed furiously at the thought of accidentally seeing Harry's godfather nude. He grasped up the black muggle jeans he'd left on the table nearby and pulled them up and over his slim hips.
"If you must," He stated somewhat blandly, extending his arm to reveal a wound on his rib cage and abdomen. "I don't know, however, much good a medi-witch like yourself can do when you insist on letting your patients die outside your tent!" The last part was closer to a growl than a bland statement. His playful dogged nature seemed to go the wayside when he transformed back into the man.
"Be lucky I help you at all, Black!" She snapped back somewhat irritated, but regretted it immediately.
She had long forgotten the many days and evenings the had spent together at Number Twelve Grimmauld place. They had been the two left behind by the Order for so long that they had sought each other's company. She had forgotten how much she had missed him for the years she'd spent in Hogwarts castle. For a brief time, he had been her only friend. For a long while, he had been one of her closest friends. Now, two years had passed since they last spoke. Since then, Ginny had gotten married to and then divorced from the dashing Viktor Krum. Sirius seemed to still hold this against her now that they were together everyday in Charlie's camp. He seemed unable to get over her absence.Had she been that close of a friend for him? She could only wonder.
"By all means, don't, then." He grumbled and walked off to the room designated as his, off to the left of the main room. "You probably would rather me be dead."
His last comment stung her. She could feel a little tingle coming to the tip of her nose, the one that came right before she started to cry. She mustn't cry. She'd cried too many tears for him when he'd disappeared beyond the veil. They all thought he was dead for well over a year, until one day he appeared, as if by magic, at the door of Number Twelve. Something had changed during that time, however. Some of his jovial nature seemed to have been eaten away at; he was shorter tempered and slightly more extreme in all aspects. His eyes were worldlier now. He would never speak of the months beyond the veil, not even to Harry or Remus. It was still a mystery.
"No.." She said, voice low. "Please, Sirius, let me have a look at it. It looks bad."
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Please R&R. How goes it so far? Any questions? Comments? I realize that Sirius is a little OOC, but I think I explained that.
Also, special thanks to my dearest friend, Carly, for beta-ing this for me!
Meg