There are some perks of living alone, that's the thought that lived inside Sirius' mind every single day of his life. He didn't have to tell anyone where he was going or when he was coming back. He could stay up as late as he wanted to without worrying the fact that his mom would come down the stairs and scold him, but most importantly, he could have anyone over.
It was late. Way past 11 in the morning when light footsteps made their way into the wood floored room, the sound being muffled by furry socks. From the bed, Sirius Black snored, oblivious to everything that was going on around him, his mind lost in a deep slumber provided by the eventful evening he had had.
He didn't feel when the mattress dipped beside him nor when small hands wrapped around his shoulder, shaking him relentlessly until he mumbled something under his breath and opened his eyes, looking around the room and finding green eyes staring right back at him. With a low chuckle, the grown man pushed the covers aside and sat up.
"How can you be up already?" he asked in a hoarse tone, his hands running over his face trying to get rid of the sleep. "What are you made of? Energetic drinks?"
From the other side of the bed, Harry Potter smiled and shook his head, controlling himself to not bounce on his legs as he waited for his godfather to finally be awake.
"There was someone at the door," he said. "And I know you said I shouldn't answer the door to strangers, but I thought it was my mom and dad."
Sirius looked at the young boy with an eyebrow up. He had hoped to God it wasn't James and Lily, 'cause if they found out he was sleeping while Harry was running around the apartment, he sure as hell would be in a lot of trouble.
"Who was it, then?" he asked as he made his best attempt of getting up, his body worn out after looking after an electric 7 years old. That was one of the reasons he didn't want kids, to begin with.
"The mail," Harry replied with a shrug. "They left you a big box." He completed and ran out of the room, his hair sticking up everywhere. "And I'm hungry!"
Rolling his eyes for what felt like the hundredth time ever since he accepted babysitting Harry for the weekend, Sirius stretched his back and finally got up from the bed, his face marked from the pillowcase, and made his way to the living room, worried to find a messy place from all the time Harry had spent on his own.
The scene before him, though, was the same one as the night before. Yes, there was a pizza box on the coffee table and plastic cups lying around, but beside that, everything seemed to be organized and all that Harry had moved, was the blanket on the couch he was using to cover himself as he watched cartoons.
Smiling to himself, Sirius made his way to the bathroom, splashed some water on his face and brushed his teeth before looking at his own reflection, gathering some courage to resume his duty as a babysitter and making breakfast without burning the whole place down.
After what felt like hours, Sirius had cleaned the living room, made the bed, washed the dishes and prepared something edible for Harry and himself. He was feeling quite accomplished and happy with himself, sure he could handle this life for a few more hours. He didn't realize, however, how grateful he would be for James and Lily to arrive until they walked through his front door, catching their attention and making Harry run to his parents with a big smile on his face as he told them everything uncle Padfoot and him had done to entertain themselves.
And while Black watched the family reunion happening in his living room, his eyes finally caught sight of the packet that was delivered for him this morning, his mind totally neglecting it as he took care of his godson. Now that he was somewhat free, his curiosity took the best of him, leading his feet to the kitchen table, his hands ripping the paper to shreds and opening the lid, his eyes scanning the contents in the box, widening as he took in everything in there.
"Oi, Pads," James said with a smile as he approached his best friend. "Thank you for – What the hell is that, Padfoot?" James bellowed in shock, his face contorting in a sadistic smile as he tried to control his breath.
Sirius couldn't understand what was going on. Was that some kind of joke James and Remus were playing on him? He wasn't expecting any kind of order and, somehow, there it was, sitting in his table. Of course he wasn't going to ask for any of that stuff. Those were sex toys and, by the looks of it, a lot of them. Some he hadn't even seen his entire life.
"What's going on?" Lily asked walking up to the two of them after seeing James roaring with laughter and Sirius dumbstruck. She was far used to them pranking themselves, but she had hoped it would stop as they grew older. Obviously, she was wrong and as soon as her eyes landed on the inside of the box, her face grew redder than any other time. They had gone way too far. "James Potter, I cannot believe you would do something like that when our son is around!"
For the first time, James had stopped laughing and shook his head, regaining control of his action and declaring he had nothing to do with it and if Sirius was into that kind of stuff, she shouldn't mock his interests, for they were all a family and should have each other's back. Lily, however, shook her head and told them to grow up and stop with these kinds of jokes as Harry was just a kid before finally letting them resolve their situation.
James, in a serious tone this time, said he didn't have anything to do with that, leaving Sirius exasperated, wondering how in the holy hell that box ended up being delivered in his house.
For the next few days, Sirius couldn't get the packet out of his mind. There were some weird looking things in there and he had no idea how to return it to its owner. Sure, he could just throw it out and forget something ever happened, but he was curious. Curious to find out who was the person behind that order. It had to be someone from the building, right? They couldn't have messed up the deliver that much, but he couldn't go around asking everyone if they had ordered a packet full of sex toys. The old lady from the second floor already didn't like him for all the girls he had been with the past few months and he didn't want to add anything else to her list of 'why should we order Sirius Black's eviction' she presented each month to the other residents.
It was only two weeks later he finally got his answer. His day at work had been exhausting and all he wanted to do was get home, take a shower and sink down on his couch, having nothing to worry about, but, for the second time that month, the elevator was out of service and the only way to reach his apartment on the seventh floor was by taking the stairs. Throwing his head back and huffing, Sirius made his way to the upper level shaking his head. He had to move out of there.
Around the third floor, he heard a voice he didn't recognize coming from behind him, its owner pissed off, each step adding to the angry tone she was using.
"It's been three weeks!" she said and he could imagine her rolling her eyes. "The shipment said it would be in my house in one week. How does that not mean you're late?" there was moment of silence. "Listen, how can you tell me it was delivered if I didn't get anything? It was pretty big box, there's no way you could have misplaced it... You know what? If I don't get my order until tomorrow, I'm suing all of you. I don't care if anyone finds out what was inside of it. I just want the things I paid for!"
As soon as the call ended, Sirius smiled. Finally everything made sense. A few days before the weekend he took care of Harry, someone started moving to the empty apartment in front of him. He had never seen who it was, but the landlord had told him it was a young single woman.
With a smirk on his face, Sirius rushed the rest of the way up to his apartment, the door flying open as he made his way to his room, getting the box and darting to the hallway just in time as a blonde head emerged from the stairs, her face contorted in a scowl.
"You must be the new neighbor," he said making her turn her face to his side, her expression changing to a softer one. "Those stairs are a killer, huh?"
The woman just smiled and walked up to the man. He was the first welcoming person she had met since yesterday.
"You tell me," she said and held out her hand greeting him. "Marlene McKinnon."
"Sirius Black," he answered shaking her hand. "I heard you had some trouble with the mail...?"
Marlene let out a low chuckle and explained to him how she was expecting this packet she had ordered and asked to deliver in her new address, but somehow they had misplaced it and now she had to deal with it.
"Yeah, those things happen," he said with a shrug, his hands extending the box he was holding. "But, fortunately, they didn't mess up that much and well," he sighed. "I'm sorry for opening it, but you gotta understand I thought it was for me."
Marlene McKinnon didn't know what to do. She opened the box with her heart beating wildly and when she saw everything that had in there, her face went pale and she refused to meet Sirius' gaze. She had lied on the phone when she said she didn't care if anyone knew the contents of the box. Of course she did. Of course she didn't want anyone to know about it, even less the hot next door who was now looking at her with a smug smile on his face.
With a low thanks and rushed feet, she made her way to her apartment, slamming the door closed before Sirius could say anything else.
From his side, Sirius smiled and shook his head, already planning his next meet with the woman next door and what to do to make her forget all about that box. Or, perhaps, bring it over.
Why hello my lovelies!
Here am I with this simple fanfic that started out as a drabble, buuuut... My mind decided to come alive and come up with a lot of story, which brings us here, on my first chapter.
Yes, it's kinda short, but I promise (and hope) it will get better!
Love you all!