This one-shot is a response to a challenge from my lovely beta, aclockworKat, and was written as my birthday gift to her! :D HAPPY BIRTHDAY! And thank you for the helpful feedback!
The challenge:
Setting/Timeline: Anytime, with an effort to keep it as canon as possible
Must include: An exciting escapade on Halloween, where both characters are canoodling under everyone's noses, while everyone is looking for them
Other Details: Should be playful, light, in the style that only Sirius Black could be, he should seduce the girl, who's reluctant at first but more than happy to participate in Sirius's little game of seduction after a while.
Prompts: Obvious Halloween themes and decoration, a haunted house, mystery, suspense and a looot of tension. And canoodling. Let's not forget zee canoodling!
I haven't dabbled in the HP universe for quite some time, so hopefully this isn't too rusty. Please let me know if there is anything I can improve, be it a general comment or something specific. Otherwise, happy reading!
Scavenger Hunt
The widest grin the Marauders had ever seen consumed Sirius' face. He stood before them in dark slacks, a collared button-down shirt, and a countenance of unrelenting determination that was characteristic of Sirius Black. Grey eyes shone in anticipation as he rubbed his hands together excitedly, the warm heat of the common room fireplace pulsing comfortingly against his back.
The looks of mixed astonishment and horror that met his gaze only served to fuel his mirth as he awaited his friends' responses. "So? What do you think?" he queried eagerly. He had just finished explaining the general concept of the events that had led up to that moment, and he was more than pleased with himself for the arduous effort of pulling all the loose ends together.
"What I want to know is whose things you stole?" James laughed jovially. "Nothing of mine, right?"
"Not at all. In fact, I didn't steal anything from anyone sitting before me, if that puts your minds to ease."
It did, though those sitting around the Gryffindor common room's fireplace did not elucidate to that fact. Instead, they released their breaths in more inconspicuous fashions, either by turning to the side or behind carefully placed hands, and to their great fortune, Sirius did not pay heed.
"When does this whole thing begin?" Peter asked, breaking the momentary silence.
"In fifteen minutes!" Sirius exclaimed, a wide beam gracing his features. "There will be three teams, so you gentlemen had better pick your partners quickly!"
"I'm going with Prongs!" Remus called without skipping a beat.
James, in response, grinned at him, and they darted over to each other as if to solidify their teammate bond.
Peter had other ideas, however, and scurried off to the swinging portrait of the Fat Lady and disappeared entirely from sight. Who did he know that came so readily to mind?
Sirius supposed Peter was fortunate enough to have already been holding the folded up contents of the first clue; otherwise, he would have been sheer out of luck.
As his best friends paired off without him, Sirius was forced to look around the room for an alternative teammate. He had originally planned to team up with Remus, because Merlin knew how quickly that boy could figure out riddles. James was fast on his feet, but would also be hopelessly lost when he peered upon Lily's handwriting. Perhaps together James and Remus would be a fantastic pair.
… A fantastically ruthless pair.
No. Sirius was NOT going to be tossed down in his own game. That simply was not an option. He needed to break out his other strategies and secure his third back-up plan, lest he forfeit on grounds of not acquiring a teammate in time.
Determination set in his expression as he strode over to the old wooden table, at which one of his friends sat.
Alright, so she wasn't exactly a friend per se, but they did smile at each other in the halls and they even shared lunch once when their friends were sick and/or studying for finals. She was fiercely clever, which would make her not only a formidable ally, but a perfect teammate. "Oi! Rae!" Sirius called with a trademark grin he only reserved for females; the kind that would have their hearts melting in a matter of seconds.
In return, an onyx-haired girl with large, blue eyes lifted her head from a Herbology textbook and regarded him carefully. Ever intelligent, she had the fortitude to rival that of a centaur's and the sharp tongue of a Slytherin. Sirius was still trying to figure out just how she got into Gryffindor, rather than Slytherin, but he had never quite been able to solve her riddles. A forced smile crept onto her features, clearly indicating that she was studying and was not to be disturbed.
"Hi," Sirius began, flashing his infamously charming smile at her that would have the bones of every other Gryffindor female melting. For some unknown reason, she remained unfazed. Swallowing his pride, Sirius continued. "I don't know if you were paying attention earlier, but I was just telling my friends about this game I had devised and I was wondering if you would be willing to act as my teammate."
The deadpan look Rae shot him was enough to leave the warmest of hearts frigid with uncertainty.
"I mean," Sirius continued, squaring his shoulders even more to hide his hesitance, "you don't even have to do anything, really, aside from follow me around until I decipher all three clues and find all the objects."
"All three objects?" she questioned in a soft voice. A library voice, Sirius noted absently. As if she were reading…
"Yeah."
"You mean the ones you've been going on and on about for the past quarter of an hour?" Her tone was much drier now, and Sirius realized where he may have gone wrong. He may have been rather loud in his explanations. Obnoxious, even.
"I didn't mean to disturb your studies," Sirius said, almost as if it were rehearsed from years of repeating it. This earned him a glare that dared him to continue, and then Rae looked back at her book.
"It's just that I really need a teammate, and-"
"And your two best candidates decided to team up without you?" she interjected, expression stony.
"Not at all!" Sirius cooed automatically, taking a seat beside her and reaching out to grasp her hand. It was a move that worked spectacularly with all other females, but he had yet to work his charms on Rae Kondersky. Anyone else's breath would have frozen in their lungs and their coherent thoughts would have faded away as if they were a distant memory.
Sirius knew he had that effect on women, though he tried his hardest not to use them. He may have grinned inappropriately at a professor or two to raise a test grade (which he liked to think worked splendidly), but never in an attempt to acquire a date for Hogsmeade or anything. It was old-fashioned fun, at best, and when he did finally find a girl who actually met his interests, he would resolve to try harder at wooing her than simply shooting a grin in her direction.
"What a load of hogwash…." Rae ground out, and promptly collected her books, taking a mental note of what page she was on before snapping them shut resolutely. In addition, she stood, which caused her wooden chair to scrape backward along the old tiled floors. The screech it produced was intentional - an action more aggressive than words to portray that she was not going to swoon when the great Sirius Black looked in her direction. "Perhaps if you would continue to find me of interest when you no longer have any gains to be attained, you may see fit to seek me out. Until then, don't be so ignorant to think I would fall for your insufferable flirting."
"No, wait!" Sirius found himself spewing unconventionally. Sure, he could win the scavenger hunt on his own, but for some vastly idiotic reason, he himself had appointed the rule of requiring three teams of two in order to participate.
Damn. It.
"Listen, it's not like that at all. I think you would be the most formidable teammate."
Rae rewarded him with the most impatient, disbelieving glare Sirius had ever received.
"Really. Please, Rae, don't make me beg."
"In case you hadn't noticed, I was in the middle of studying. I don't know about you, but I don't spend my evenings hunched over a textbook unless I have a test the next day. I will not waste my time running around the castle with you." She turned to leave, but was unexpectedly yanked backward by a warm hand that locked around her wrist. Venomously, she whipped back around and yanked herself away. "Do not touch me, Black."
"Sorry! I didn't mean to offend you, I promise. Please, Rae, it can't take more than an hour. When we get back, I'll help you study until you know the textbook inside out," he said quickly, more and more cognizant of the diminishing time left before he would be disqualified from his own scavenger hunt. There were only two other people in the common room and they were too busy snogging their brains out so they were off the list of possible teammates, and there was no time to search elsewhere. Rae was his only option, aside from perhaps hexing one of the Halloween skeletons that were propped up in the corner to follow him around the castle. That could work, right? The rules specified teams of two, but mentioned nothing about both of them having a pulse.
Sirius shook his head resolutely. No, he would play this fairly, by Godric, and he would win! "We will share the championship title and I'll buy you a cauldron-load of those terrible Peppermint Toads you like from Honeydukes."
Eyes narrowed into critical slits, Rae chewed on the inside of her lip. She had never seen the man look more concerned. Heck, she couldn't even remember even seeing him look concerned at all. He was a Black and Black's didn't contort their facial muscles so unnecessarily. Not that he was much like any other Black to begin with, but that wasn't the point. Of course, the aspect that would be most devastating for him would be to see his friends crowed with the title of Ultimate Mischief Night Champion. It was a crown Sirius believed he rightfully deserved, and the panicked thought of losing that crown was what made him look near desperate.
"There is no sense in ever having that many Peppermint Toads," she said, her tone slightly less acerbic. If she were to be honest with herself, she had already studied enough to make her brain leak out from her ears and she had been planning on packing up within the hour, anyway. It was just the rude, thoughtless manner in which Sirius approached her that made her recoil so quickly into her viper-like mindset. She was not one to drop everything just because he batted his dark eyelashes at her, and for him to assume she would was so offensive, that it was physically difficult to refrain from punching him.
"But you enjoy them. You can never have too much of something you like."
She shifted her weight and adjusted her stack of books. "I will help you under three conditions," she stated, setting upon him a look that dared him to reject her following words. "First, never interrupt my studies again."
"Done."
"Second, never again mistake me for the bimbos who fawn all over you. I am not, nor will I ever be, like that. If you send me that insufferable grin again, I will hex you into the ground so hard that you will leave a permanent impression."
The uneasiness in Sirius' expression was vanishing quickly and was already being replaced with a smile that was halfway to cheeky. He wouldn't test his luck against her flammable anger just yet, but the second she had tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, he knew she would cave in. It was something she always did when laughing with her friends; the unconscious reaction was a sign that she wasn't on edge. Sirius would boldly go so far as to say that it meant she was comfortable with whomever she was speaking with. If that wasn't a step in the right direction, he didn't know what was.
"Third, you will not get me a cauldron-full of Peppermint Toads. Ever."
"Deal!" he laughed jovially. "Thanks, Rae!"
She puffed out an exhausted sigh. "I'm going to take these books up to my dorm. I'll be right back."
Sirius nodded and once she had disappeared up the stairs, he spun around to face his grinning friends. "Don't look at me like that, boys," he beamed. "I will find all three objects and forever be remembered as the first ever Ultimate Mischief Night Champion."
James shook his head with a skeptical smile. "Don't be too confident, mate. She may be one of our brightest, but she is no match for Remus and me."
"What exactly are we looking for anyway?" Remus queried.
Sirius laughed then. "That, my friends, is something you will have to figure out on your own!" The excitement of it all boiled through his veins.
For the past month, he had been crossing names off a hand-copied list of every student at Hogwarts. The semi-final list that remained had consisted of the names of only those people who had somehow deeply offended Sirius or his friends. Once he chose his finalists, he watched them like a hawk until he pinpointed something they regarded as highly important, and over the past several days, he had been furtively following his three victims around the castle until they dropped their guards long enough for him to borrow something exceedingly valuable to them.
Bertram Aubrey was Sirius' first victim because he had approached Lily a couple of months before and asked her to Hogsmeade. Lily had politely declined, but he refused to accept her answer and kept pestering her until he got loud enough for a professor to overhear. He had been acting like a massive prick to her since then and went so far as to attempt to circulate ugly rumors about her. The rumors didn't get far, but it had enraged Sirius and his friends, especially since no professors or real punishment got involved. Choosing him for this activity was a no-brainer.
A couple days after the incident, Peter saw Bertram fondly staring at a photograph of himself standing beside Greta Catchlove, and since then had been attempting to weasel his way into her group of friends so he could have a chance to speak to her. It was laughably pathetic to Sirius, especially since Bertram would've been a half decent guy if he hadn't been such a lurker. It took a diligent amount of surveillance, but Sirius finally managed to capture the photograph.
The second victim was Emma Vanity because when her Quidditch team beat Gryffindor, she harped on about it for ages like a self-satisfied sod. She jeered at the Gryffindor team for days and when Remus stood up for them, it got so violent that she pulled out her wand on him. No curses or hexes were fired, but the threat was enough to make Sirius quake with rage. No one blatantly threatened his friends without some severe retribution, and it was surprisingly easy to nab her broomstick from under her nose.
Finally, for the incessant offense of sneering at Remus, Peter, James, and himself, Serverus Snape was so strong of a candidate that he immediately went into the semi-finals list. He was a twat and ratted on them all the time, anyway. The sheer amount of detentions the quartet had landed themselves in because of Snivelly was staggering. While he was perusing texts in an adjacent row of shelves in the library, Sirius managed to swipe a potions textbook that Snivelus was always scribbling furiously in. Sirius hadn't gotten the opportunity to look inside of it yet, but he suspected it contained doodles of Snivelly and whoever he secretly fancied.
Once Sirius had collected all three objects, he enlisted Lily's help, working his charm on her until she reluctantly complied. Her job was to hide all three objects somewhere on the castle grounds and write out clues to help each of the three teams find the items. She was perfect for the job because not only was she great at keeping secrets, but she was also the least suspicious of anyone to actually be transporting the objects to their hiding spots. In case she did happen to run into any of the three victims, they would never suspect her of having anything to do with their missing belongings.
Together, the three teams had two hours to locate the items and smuggle them back into the common room. On top of the fun of having a timed scavenger hunt in the dark, they would have to avoid roaming professors (because it was after curfew, of course), and duck away from the victims who were likely to be madly searching the castle, as well. Sirius could think of very few things that sounded more exciting, and after preparing for this over the course of a month, he was thrilled that this moment had finally arrived.
"Don't be ridiculous," Lily chided softly. "You can't be the only one who knows what you're looking for." She turned to James and Remus, who were holding back chuckles at Sirius' sudden panic. "A photograph, a broo-"
"NO!" Sirius shouted, diving at Lily, who easily ducked out of the way.
"-broomstick, and a textbook," she concluded once she had skirted around to the other side of the couches. Looking back at Sirius, she smiled cheekily.
"Oh, my dearest Lily," Sirius breathed.
"Yes?" she asked sweetly.
"Of all people who could betray me," he said dramatically, "your treachery strikes the deepest."
"Who are the victims?" Remus questioned, rolling his eyes, and Sirius went into a brief explanation until Rae descended the stairs and slowly approached them.
They all knew each other, whether from sharing classes, travelling in adjacent cabins on the Hogwarts Express, or sitting in close proximity in the Great Hall. They all shared a few conversations with Rae over the years, but it was never anything more personal than light pleasantries or chatting about classes and professors. Sharing an evening with them would be treading on new, marginally awkward territory, and she absently played with the ends of her torso-length black hair as she exchanged greetings with Lily, James, and Remus.
"Please don't take this personally, Rae, but we're going to destroy you both," James grinned.
"Oh, please," she scoffed lightly, knowing well just how competitive James Potter was. "You may as well not even leave the common room because it will be a colossal waste of your time. By the time you two get to the first location, Sirius and I will already be on our way back with all three objects in hand."
Remus snorted uncharacteristically, earning himself a querying look from Lily. "Sorry," he said, raising his hands in a placating manner. "I've just never heard such a fantastic load of nonsense in my life. Ever."
"Alright, enough harassing each other," Lily said, though she knew it was all in good fun. They weren't vicious threats, though if they stayed for much longer the fine line between humor and seriousness would fade and leave poor Rae in the middle of three very ambitious, ego-defending males. "It's time to begin anyway."
No sooner had the words left her lips, did the four students scurry out through the portrait hole. James and Remus darted toward the staircase, and Sirius was already turning to follow suit, but found himself being yanked backward. A small fist relentlessly clutched the back of his shirt, and as she dragged him to the far end of the hall, he stumbled and tried very hard to swallow the string of curses that bubbled across his tongue. "What are you doing?!" he hissed.
"Trying to figure out where in Merlin's name we're supposed to be going!" she bit back. "What exactly was your plan?"
"I was going to go to the stairs and figure it out on the way down!" he retorted without skipping a beat. As the words left his lips, he realized just how foolish it sounded, but his determined expression did not falter for a second.
"How typical!" she snapped, snatching the slip of parchment from his fingers before he could tighten his grip.
Damn. So she was smarter than he thought. Or observant enough, at least, to call him out on his thoughtlessness.
"Of all things to steal, it had to be this. Surely, he will find it amiss. The first thing is hidden amongst the feathers. Open and airy, you must mind the weather." Rae met Sirius' bright eyes with such a cheeky smirk that he found his own demeanor falling. "And you were going to go downstairs, you twit." Dark tresses tumbled around her shoulders as she shook her head incredulously. "Come on."
Running to a lesser-used stairwell, Sirius and Rae bounded upward until they came to a heavy wooden door. They opened this, and appeared in a hall only a couple dozen paces from the West Tower. The West Tower stairs were easy to climb, but the higher they got, the more and more visible their breath became.
"It's freezing!" Rae grumbled, rubbing her hands together furiously until she reached another door. The sleek iron handle was bitter to the touch, so Rae drew her hand up inside the sleeve of her cloak and used the fabric as a makeshift shield against the biting metal. The past couple of weeks had been unnaturally cold in the castle, and it was only going to get worse throughout the winter. It was still a day away from November, but the thrashing winds made it feel more like halfway through December.
Shivering at the drastic change in temperature, now that there was nothing but open archways protecting the pair from the elements, Rae huddled deeper into her cloak, grateful more than ever for being too absorbed in her studies to remove it. "And to think I could be curled up in front of the fireplace right now," she muttered.
It always smelled atrocious in the owlry and Rae was half-convinced that she was allergic to owls. Every morning when the mail was being delivered, she sneezed twice. At first she thought it was just a bad omen, but when her sneezes did not diminish even after her first few months at Hogwarts, she began contemplating more realistic causes. As if to prove her theories true, a violent fit of sneezes overtook her and she sniffled miserably. "You really owe me now."
"Of course, darlin'," he crooned, far too thrilled to care about her dark gaze as he danced his way over to the owl cages. He bounced on the balls of his feet for a few long seconds as his eyes raked over the feather-coated ground and along the feces encrusted cages. "Aha!" He hurried over to the northern corner of the owlry, stepping around a sopping patch of straw, and picked up a leather satchel that was resting atop a tired end table.
Noting that it was nowhere near the caked up grime and was carefully sealed within a bag which Sirius did not produce, he concluded that Lily cared enough for Snivelus to protect his book. That or she just cared enough for boring literature. He peeked inside and Rae could only assume that its contents were to his liking because he pulled the strings tight to seal it and ran back to hand it to her. "Hide this in your cloak. In case we run into anyone, we might be able to play off not having it. Let's go to the next one!"
His hand was already on the door handle when he realized that his teammate was not following. Curious, and slightly annoyed at her lack of cooperation, he spun back around. "What are you- oh. Right."
Rolling her eyes in exasperation, Rae strode over to where the leather satchel had been placed, sneezing a couple more times along the way. Fastened to the wall were three small slips of parchment that were identical in size to the one resting inside Rae's pocket. She detached it from the wall and held it up between her index and middle fingers, giving Sirius a look that implied he had better be grateful for her because it was the second time in fifteen minutes she had saved him from running around aimlessly like a loony.
"Really," she exhaled as she trotted over to him and slipped back into the relative warmth of the castle. Not that it was particularly toasty, per se, but there was a drastic improvement over the frigid climate outside once he sealed the door. They descended back down the stairs and into a larger hallway that showcased several skeletons that were charmed to dance every fifteen minutes. "Where would you be without me?"
"Lost in unforgiving darkness, my dear," Sirius breathed in her ear without warning.
By the time she spun around, he had jumped several paces away and was well out of striking distance. "For all your charm, I would have thought you would be above using such cheesy pick-up lines."
"Oh, no," he clarified. "You misunderstand me. I meant that literally. I would be lost in the darkness of the castle because I wouldn't have known where to go." His snarky grin implied otherwise, and the way his eyes twinkled happily suggested that his only goal for the evening, aside from winning the scavenger hunt, was to humiliate her thoroughly.
Seething now, Rae stomped off a short distance and keeping her back turned to Sirius, unfolded the note. "Really, that incident did not require vengeance. After this, please forget it ever transpired. Look for this object tucked by the entrance, of a room filled with the richly desired."
"What does that mean?" she asked, turning to face him.
"Just felt like someone still needed to learn his lesson, that's all. Merlin, she could have hidden it anywhere."
"Yeah, I get that from the writing. Whose thing did you steal and what is it?"
"Remember when Aubrey tried to spread rumors about Lily? He never got rebuked by a professor so I felt like he still needed to learn his lesson," Sirius shrugged. "Besides, I could've done much worse. Could've announced something to embarrass him in the Great Hall or out on the pitch on game day."
"You are ruthless, Black."
"Only when people deserve it. Otherwise I'm a saint."
Rae snorted at this and silently reread the riddle. "If the thing desired is sleep, she could be talking about the dorms. Or if she's talking about high marks, she could have hid it in one of the professors' offices. Or the Room of Requirement." Her eyes widened. "For crying out loud, it could mean anything to anyone! It could be anywhere!"
"You know about the Room of Requirement?"
"Well, yeah. Someone told my older sister about it back when she was in school. I know a few places that most students probably have never seen."
Sirius nodded, and made a throaty sound before staring blankly at the wall across the dark hallway. After a moment of brooding, he began pacing back and forth, six steps in each direction. Rae watched him incredulously as his lips wordlessly moved and he began running a hand through his already messy locks.
"That's it!" he all but shouted, and then slapped a hand over his mouth, eyes wider than ever.
"You idiot!" Rae hissed. "You might as well walk straight up to Filch and beg him for detention!" The last of her words were nearly cut short as Sirius started running, barely slowing enough to latch onto Rae's wrist to drag her along. She made a strangled sound as her breath was stolen and she stumbled for a few seconds before she could turn herself to run in the proper direction. "Let go, I can run fine by myself!"
Sirius obliged and together they scurried to the end of the hallway and down the one that ran perpendicular to it. Hearts pounding, they barreled down frigid, narrow corridors, barely able to see anything in the lengthy distances between each lit candle along the walls. Fortunately, there were carved, glowing pumpkins spread throughout the castle, which provided more light. They weren't terribly bright, but any added illumination was helpful.
Without warning, Sirius slid to a halt, thrust his arms out to capture Rae, and quickly covered her mouth with one hand. There was no time to explain, so he sufficed with pulling her against him as he ducked into a niche behind a gruesome statue of an old giant. In the scant space between the statue and the curved wall behind it, Sirius all but shoved Rae against the wall and wedged himself between her and the giant's rear.
Knowing better than to ask what had caused his abrupt change of plans, Rae resigned herself to glare at him as she swatted his hand away from her mouth. Tense seconds passed before the sound of footsteps neared, and Rae's eyes darted away from Sirius' to follow the light gait as it swiftly strode past them. She was just barely able to catch a glimpse of green amidst a wave of black. It was someone from Slytherin, she deduced, though what a Slytherin was doing out this late was beyond her. Furthermore, the Slytherin common room was rumored among Gryffindors to be located somewhere on the ground floor or lower, so what this person was doing so far away was even more perplexing.
Unless that person was one of Sirius' victims and he or she was searching for whatever was stolen.
This thought made Rae's eyes swivel back to Sirius, who was suddenly much closer than he had been a few seconds before. His breath danced on her lips and the hard, steely grey of his eyes had burned into mercury. His orbs were trained on her own, which for some entirely irrational reason made Rae's lungs pause for a moment. Rae realized that for the first time in nearly a half hour, she didn't feel like an ice cube, which, upon further investigation, she understood was because both of Sirius' hands were firmly planted on the wall on either side of her shoulders. He was nearly draping her with his body heat, and it felt so nice to be warm and toasty… and…
In a snap, Rae came to her senses, as if a bucket of water had been upturned over her head. Within a heartbeat, she had successfully dove under Sirius' left arm and was clear across the hallway. He did not emerge from behind the statue for another two seconds, which was fine and well because any extra blinks of time were devoted solely to compose herself. Because Sirius Black was nothing but a charmer and she was not like all the other twits who swooned at the sight of him. She would not allow her knees to buckle at their close proximity and if her cheeks darkened by even a single shade, it would be due to the unbearable temperature, and not as a reaction to him.
When he emerged, he was running a hand through his hair and a smirk had overridden his features. "Well, that was a close one, huh?" he whispered, and Rae wasn't entirely convinced that he was referring to nearly being seen.
Wordlessly, she headed in the direction from which their fellow curfew-breaker had come, her eyes focused on the darkness before her and her lips forming a straight line.
"I'm pretty sure you have no idea where the next object is," Sirius whispered from directly beside her. "What happened to your diligent examination of each clue before wandering aimlessly?"
She stopped in her tracks, swallowed the last remaining fringes of embarrassment (not because she had been flustered), and inhaled deeply before replying. "I thought you already figured it out. That's why we started running in the first place."
"That's right, but I never told you which direction we're supposed to be headed in."
Biting the side of her cheek in exasperation, Rae crossed her arms as she eyed him warily. "Which way, Mr. Know-it-all?"
"You're not going to like it," was a hesitant reply, though he didn't bother to mask his own glee.
"Where did she put it?"
A grin swept his lips upward as he began trotting off merrily. "Just follow me. It doesn't hurt to do something spontaneous once in a while."
"What-" Rae began, but when she realized that her tone was much too high pitched in irritation. She exhaled, paused, and then inhaled deeply before continuing in a much calmer tone. "What on earth do you think this whole evening is? All of it is spontaneous, Sirius! Now, if I'm not going to like it, it would do you a world of good to just let me know what it is now so I can mentally prepare for it. I'm not one that does well in surprise situations. That's why I plan everything!"
"Well, that's just boring," was his honest reply. He glanced at her over his shoulder, only to witness a severely dark scowl. "Come on, Rae. Just have fun with this," he cooed in an attempt to assuage her irritation.
"How can you tell me to have fun with this three seconds after saying that I won't like the next place we're going?!"
"Really, it's not that bad. It's not like she hid it outside, or anything."
Rae followed him, her light footsteps not making a sound as she kept to the shadows of the hallways. They had to backtrack twice to avoid professors, and hid inside derelict classrooms until the passages were clear. Several times, Sirius veered down hidden tunnels and spiraling staircases so narrow that it made her feel dizzy. Rae was quickly learning that Sirius knew half a dozen shortcuts that she had never even thought existed, and she wondered how many other students and professors knew about them.
On the third floor, Sirius wordlessly crept into a seldom used boy's bathroom. It was closest to a few of the classes held on that floor, but because it had such an overpowering odor that remained regardless of how many cleaning spells were hurtled at it, the boys typically ventured to the toilets either several halls away or they went down to the second floor toilets.
Rae halted immediately once she realized where she had almost walked into, and neatly crossed the carpeted stones to lean against the opposite wall, patting down her slightly unkempt hair. It would seem that her tresses did not appreciate her darting through the castle, and Rae vaguely wondered if she looked as disheveled as she felt.
Without warning, Sirius' head reappeared from around the bathroom wall. "What are you doing? Come on," he whispered.
"Wha- no! I thought you were taking care of business!"
"Don't be ridiculous. There's a shortcut in here; come on," he said, taking a step back out into the hallway.
"In there? I really doubt that, Sirius- no; do NOT grab at me like that!" she hissed, scurrying away from his grasping hands.
"Well, then just trust me!"
Narrowing her eyes as if daring him to deceive her, Rae followed him, and sucked in a deep breath of fresh air before venturing into forbidden territory.
The tiled floors were in nearly pristine condition, as were the marble sinks and sparkling mirrors, and the walls were wiped down and free of dust. Nothing looked filthy; there was no mold or mildew or anything that could have logically made the restroom smell so terrible.
"Do you remember Andrew Lauft?" Sirius asked, easily understanding Rae's expression as she eyed the room. She shook her head. "I didn't think so. He was a seventh year when you were in your first. I can't imagine that you would have had much contact with him, if at all. Anyway, he was the one who showed me this passage. He didn't want everyone to know about it, because it's such a convenient way to get from here down to the kitchens. Said if the professors knew about it, they might seal it off. I didn't really believe that part, but I liked the idea of having my own passage. At least, I don't think anyone else knows about it, since I've never run into anyone in here.
"Anyway, Lauft taught me a hex that creates odors so horrendously turbid that it would curl even Merlin's beard. He wanted me to carry the passage's secret with me until my seventh year before I would pass it on to someone trustworthy." He entered the last stall on the right and pushed on one of the stones further into the wall. "Not sure who the lucky fellow will be," he added as an afterthought as the wall before them became blurry and faded altogether.
Wide-eyed, Rae took a step back. She had seen plenty of manifestations of magic, and she had walked through several enchanted walls in her years, but never had she entertained the thought that there would be one here, inside the castle. Getting used to moving staircases and the Fat Lady's portrait was one thing, but if there was one completely secret passage, there were bound to be many more. She was supremely irritated with herself, she realized, that she had been so foolish to think Hogwarts didn't have truly secret passages.
"Well? Come on."
It wasn't solely the passage that had Rae feeling hesitant. It was the fact that it looked eerily similar to something in a muggle haunted house she had been to that had her concerned. It was unrealistic and childish, she knew, but she was only eight years old when she had been dragged along by her older sister and thrown into the dark uncertainty that was muggle animatronics. There had been a hallway, just like the one before her, from which a massive creature, easily four times the size of the largest man she had ever seen, had sprung up from the darkness and breathed fire. Real fire. Young Rae had no idea it wasn't real back then, and the damage had already been done before anyone sat her down and explained muggle craftsmanship to her. The horrifying image haunted her every time she was faced with small, cramped spaces.
Rae's eyes darted back to Sirius, who had his hand outstretched to her reassuringly.
"You're not afraid are you?" The corners of Sirius' lips twitched, as if he were repressing a strong urge to laugh. "I promise that there aren't too many spiders in here. I mean, there are a few hundred spider webs, but I've never seen enough spiders to be overly concerned. Haven't seen any other insects, really, but that's probably because the spiders have been feasting on them. Oh, and Peeves has come down here a few times. He likes to stick his head out of the wall as I go through."
Rae fidgeted nervously, overcome with hesitation, though she also could not deny the suspicion that Sirius was deliberately trying to frighten her. The realization that perhaps he wasn't being entirely honest, or at least that he was stretching the truth, gave her a necessary boost of confidence. The passage, even from the outside, looked by far the most disconcerting passage of the castle, and it also happened to be both the darkest and the longest, if what he about it leading down to the first floor was true. Yet, if he was able to joke about it, it couldn't have been that terrifying.
"Just go," she said, willing energy into her voice. "I'll be right behind you."
A smirk was his response. "You don't want to hold my hand for reassurance?"
Rae nearly clobbered him, and he ducked into the short entrance, snickering as he disappeared from sight.
Without giving herself the opportunity to doubt him, Rae followed suit and nearly screamed when the door she had just passed through made a gravelly dragging sound and shut completely. Within a heartbeat, she was surrounded by darkness and a wave of claustrophobia overwhelmed her. "Sirius?" she whispered.
"Boo!" a voice came from directly beside her ear, and she flailed wildly, managing to whack him hard enough for him to emit a groan of pain. "I was just having fun, Rae!" he defended. "No need to be so violent!"
"Oh, please," she retorted without skipping a beat. "I can hear the barely repressed laughter in your voice." She reached into her cloak and pulled out her wand, quietly muttering "lumos". In the soft light the wand began to emit, her eyes adjusted to behold a corridor so narrow that if she stood in the middle and raised her elbows outward, they would touch either side of the dank, cobweb-laden walls. He had been correct, she had to admit, about the ghastly amount of the white, silk-like webs.
A moment of silence passed. "You're right," he admitted, finally releasing a chuckle. "It was too easy, though. You couldn't possibly expect me to pass up that opportunity."
"Yeah, yeah. Let's just keep moving."
"Aye, aye, Captain," he replied with a mock salute before turning and walking down the remarkably steep slope of the secret passage. After a few hundred paces, the ground began to veer to the right, and then curved in on itself, forming a spiral slope that felt remarkably dangerous. In combination, the damp ground that prohibited proper footing and the moist walls which made it near impossible to grip for support, it felt more like a misstep away from a death slide. Rae chewed on the inside of her lip, intently focused on directing her feet around puddles and slop.
"You alright back there?"
"Yeah. How much longer?"
"We're actually almost at the other end. No more than a couple dozen paces."
"Good." Their cautious steps echoed against the walls, providing an eerie chorus of soft footfalls that suspiciously made it sound as if they were being pursued. "Why did you show me this passage if it's supposed to be such a big secret?"
She saw his shoulders move up and down in a shrug. "I just want to win, I guess." The ground finally evened out, and they turned a sharp left to follow the narrow passage.
"Badly enough to give up a secret that's been kept for generations of students?"
He spun around, startling her with his abruptness, and she held her breath as he closed the distance between them. Rae had to look up at him, and through the dim light, she could barely see his eyes trained on her. "Are you going to tell anyone, my dear Rae?"
His breath ghosted off her lips, and she had to blink her sudden uncertainty away. "Well, no. What I mean is that you may be a bit careless when it comes to things you desire, and you may not have thought out the consequences. I wouldn't put it past you to bring girls down here just to get them frightened enough to latch onto you."
Sirius was beside her ear before she could fully exhale, his right hand flying up and embedding itself amongst the dark tresses on the back of her head. The way he whispered his next words sent a wave of warm shivers down her spine, and his fingers pulled her a centimeter closer to him. "I've never brought another girl down this passage, Rae, but you are correct about me being careless when it comes to things I want." Keeping his hand still, he pulled away just enough to lock eyes with hers. "Very careless," he breathed, and then gently brushed his lips across hers. Honey, she decided. He tasted of honey and lightning. Vaguely in the fringes of her consciousness, she heard a clattering right by her feet. Then, he dipped his head lower once more, grazing the area teasingly again.
The contact was fleeting, but the igniting warmth left in its wake lingered for several minutes and caused her arms to tingle into gooseflesh. His fingers slowly disengaged themselves and he pulled himself away just in time to catch a rare glimpse of a speechless Rae Kondersky. Her eyes were unfocused, her chest rose and fell with heavy breaths, and her usually straight posture was slightly slumped in a telltale sign of contentment.
It only took a couple of heartbeats for Rae to regain her senses, and when she did, her fingers instinctively began grasping for her wand that had somehow vanished-
"You dropped it," Sirius grinned, as if reading her mind.
Upon looking at the ground, she realized that he was absolutely correct, and she gnawed on the inside of her lip as she bent down to retrieve it. "You're lucky it slipped, or else I would have hexed you."
The threat was weak, and Sirius took advantage of it. "Well, then, it seems I have been very fortunate. You mustn't be so clumsy again."
Rolling her eyes heaven-ward, she bit back a quick retort. The way she saw it, she had two options. Rae could either admit that she was klutzy enough to drop her wand or she could admit that his kiss had been startlingly- dare she even think it- nice.
Merlin, that was not an option. At all. Ever.
Ever.
"Just lead the way," she ground out.
"Of course, darling," he replied, and nearly laughed at how quickly her temper flared. It was at that moment Rae realized exactly how thrilled he was with irritating her. Quickly, he barreled on before she could interrupt him. "I would just like to point out one thing, if I may." His cheeky grin widened as he carefully maneuvered his feet to face the appropriate direction. "You didn't exactly pull away from me, did you? I daresay you may have even enjo-"
Ducking away from her dangerous flailing arms, Sirius darted down the last of the corridor, giggling all the way, even as pursuing footfalls drew nearer. With a quick push on a loose stone at hip-height, the wall directly before him started to get blurry, and then turned entirely translucent. There was no time for hesitation, and he tumbled out of the secret passage and into the darkness of the subfloors of Hogwarts.
"Sirius Black, I swear I will-" her whispered threat was cut short by Sirius' hand appearing over her mouth. Wordlessly, he dragged her back into the shadows, his other hand moving deftly to cover the lighted tip of Rae's wand.
It took a brief second for her eyes to adjust to the darkness, and when they did, Rae realized what was happening. Standing halfway down the hall were two figures that were impossible to make out from the single lit candle perched on the wall. They were facing the wall, and one of them reached out to touch the large painting that hovered before him.
"It's James and Remus," Sirius breathed. "There's no way they know a quicker shortcut; how did they get here before us?"
"Do you know about the shortcut from the west side of the fourth floor to the first?"
"Don't be ridiculous," he whispered, but when she did not admit she was trying to deceive him, he turned his head. There was nothing mendacious in Rae's eyes and her expression was free of deceit. "You're bleeding kidding me!" he hissed. "I was sure I knew all of them!"
"Apparently not. Maybe you should make a map of all the secret passages."
Sirius' peeved expression slowly brightened into a radiant, toothy smile. "Merlin, Rae, you're a genius!" Before she could back away, he threw his arms around her and held her captive. "Brilliant! That's absolutely brilliant!"
Her instinctual demand for him to disentangle himself from her died as he placed an appreciative kiss on her left cheek.
No, the butterflies fluttering about near her abdomen were not from him!
The moment was short-lived, however, as they heard movement from further along down the hall. Fleeing like rabbits from a hungry fox, they both darted back into the secret tunnel from which they had just emerged. Rae did not stop until she was a dozen paces past the entrance, and she turned just in time to see Sirius pushing the same stone he had before. The wall behind him solidified and within seconds, they were left in darkness once more.
"Lumos," Rae whispered, and a soft bubble of light enveloped them. "I thought you said I was going to hate where this clue led us."
"I was just trying to get a rise out of you," Sirius admitted, far too excited to properly censor himself. He stared at her for all of two seconds before he trapped her in another swarm of heated kisses, and to his delight, she began to respond with equal vigor. Stopping only to gasp for an occasional breath of air, they continued for several minutes. Soft pecks burned into hungry nibbles, and before long, their tongues embarked on adventures of their own.
Finally, Rae pulled away, staggering backward a couple steps before Sirius caught her. "Don't even say it," she threatened weakly, and was surprised that Sirius obeyed.
"We're going to have to split up," he said once they had properly caught their breaths. "I will go follow them and try to nab the photo while you sneak into the kitchens and get the next clue. I'll meet you back here in ten minutes."
Sirius gave Rae no time to reject his plan before he darted out of the passage and disappeared into the darkness of the sublevel hall.
Rae rolled her eyes as she ensured that the satchel was still secured in her oversized pocket. The pocket had been sewn in secret by Rae's mother the day before she left for Hogwarts, and by the time Rae found her cloak tampered with, it was too late to find another one. Her mother had been more than content to announce that she had crafted the larger pouch so that Rae would be able to sneak Peppermint Toads into class. Her mother had even taught her a spell to charm the chocolate with so they wouldn't melt all over her. The fact that the pocket had, in fact, been used for its intended purpose many times had Rae's mother brimming with glee. Fortunately, her mother had planned to accommodate several Peppermint Toads for Rae's close classmates, as well, and the roominess of the pocket was perfect to securely hold Serverus' textbook.
With the furtiveness of a feline, Rae slipped out from the passage and bolted to the massive picture of an assortment of fruit. Quickly, she tickled the pear and it turned into a handle, which she hastily turned.
Once the door was safely shut behind her, Rae took a brief moment to admire the enormity of the kitchens, and she nearly lost focus of her mission the moment she was assaulted with the scent of fresh pumpkin pies and cherry pastries.
Several house elves were bustling about, half of them appearing to be cleaning up from the day's mess, while the other half assembled everything for the next day's meals. Enormous melons and squashes lined one table, while another was overrun by spider-shaped cookies, orange biscuits, and purple cakes. And of course, scattered all about were hundreds of freshly carved pumpkins, all glowing with merry, toothy smiles.
A quick glance at the clock on the wall alerted Rae to the thrilling notion that they were seven minutes away from her favorite holiday. Halloween was by far the most exciting day of the year, what with all of its history and idiosyncrasies around the world. Every culture, it seemed, had their own views of the holiday and Rae was fascinated by each perception various peoples had concerning a single day.
However, the time also indicated that they only had sixty-three minutes until the time limit of the scavenger hunt would officially end their adventure.
Rae easily spotted two scraps of paper attached to the wall beside the entrance. She grabbed one, turned to exit, and nearly screamed in surprise when she ran into a house elf.
"You've come for more Peppermint Toads," Caelo croaked. "This way, please," she gestured for Rae to follow her. "Caelo has six Peppermint Toads for Miss Rae."
"Oh, Caelo, you're wonderful," Rae blubbered, heart melting at the sight of the single, most delightful house elf that ever lived. "Thank you, but I'm actually in a hurry. I just came to get this parchment here," she waved the slip in her hand for good measure, "and I really must be on my way. I promise I will come back tomorrow night."
Exchanging warm farewells, Rae slipped back out into the darkness of the hallway. At the sound of voices, her heart spluttered to a stop. One female and two males, and all three of them sounded young enough to be students. The female was easy to pinpoint as Emma Vanity, who happened to be one of Sirius' victims. Eyes widening, Rae ran as swiftly as she could and dove into the translucent wall before clambering to find the trigger stone. Her fingers slipped along the moist rocks before one of them gave way to her forceful shoves. Seconds later, Rae was enveloped by darkness.
Sirius was the only one who knew how to get in, and Sirius was the only one she wanted to see at that moment. The only logical thing to do was to wait patiently until he returned.
But what if Emma and her friends ran into him? The people with her were probably a couple of the guys on the Quidditch team, which would mean that together they had enough muscle to beat Sirius senseless. They could kill him. Not that Rae thought they would, but they had the means to do so, and if they got carried away, who knew how far they would go? And that's not to say Emma wasn't a tough girl even on her own. When she got mad enough, the first years scattered at the sight of her.
Would Sirius run into them? Would he hear them in time to duck into an empty room? Would they set watch and render him unable to come back to the passage? How long should Rae wait before beginning to look for him? How would she find James and Remus and Peter in time to help her save hi-
The wall before her began to allow dim candle light from far away to enter, and Sirius darted inside, slamming his hand down on the trigger stone. "Well, that was a close one- OOF!"
Rae barely had time to register her actions as she launched herself at her housemate, clinging onto his torso. "Sirius Black, don't you ever run off like that again! How did you escape them?!" She withdrew her arms and crossed them across her chest anxiously. "Merlin's beard, do you have any idea how close you were to running into Emma Vanity? She could have cursed you a million different ways!"
"Rae!" Sirius said, adding a bit more volume to her name to cut off her nervous rant. "They don't know it was me who stole her broom. The worst they would have done is question what I'm doing down here at this hour and if I knew anything about her broom. I would have denied knowing anything and then we would have been on our separate ways."
"Oh." Of Rae's four years at Hogwarts, she had never felt so foolish, and her cheeks darkened. Fortunately, he wouldn't be able to tell in the dim light. "Well, it was still dangerous. What if you had run into Peter and whoever he decided to team up with? Did you catch up with Remus and James?"
"Sure did," Sirius grinned, pulling out a rectangular slip of parchment that showcased a moving photograph of Bertram Aubrey leaning on a pillar in the courtyard. He was staring unabashed at Greta Catchlove who was perched upon a waist-high wall, just a couple of meters away.
Rae gaped at him. "How did you nick it from them?"
"Transfigured my sock into a parchment that was roughly the same size and traded it out after I distracted them. Told them Filch was right on their tail, and in their scramble to get away, they didn't notice. We should be going, though. They looked like they knew exactly where to go, and I doubt we can beat them there. Here, hide this with Serverus' book. Merlin knows I'll end up dropping it. What does the next riddle say?"
"Oh, uh-" Rae floundered to retrieve the slip from her pocket and read it aloud hastily. "My, my, my dear Slytherin. What troubles await to your chagrin? Dangers await in finding this stick; past Filch's room, you must be quick!"
"You're kidding me… why would Lily do that to us?!"
"It sounds to me like her polite version of a middle finger. I can't imagine her readily agreeing to hide these things for you. She probably wanted to make you boys think next time before asking her to risk herself for a game."
"Yeah, but she could have said no," Sirius whined. Creeping by Filch's office was thing he wanted to do, and with good reason.
Rae stared at him pointedly. "You are among the most stubborn people I know. I'm sure you pestered her until she agreed."
Sirius bit his lip but did not reply, which only served to prove Rae's point. He sufficed with pushing once more on the trigger stone and poking his head out to look both ways. "It's clear," he whispered.
So began the most exciting, heart-lurching footrace either of them had ever experienced. They tore down the hall, ascended a flight of stairs, and flew across a narrow corridor that connected the heart of the castle with the western appendage. By some great fortune, neither Filch nor Mrs. Norris seemed to be around, so Sirius and Rae split up to scavenge the nearby rooms.
Rae was nearly done inspecting the second classroom, when a shadow hovered across the doorway. Her breath died and a sickly feeling bloomed in the pit of her stomach, sure that she was about to receive a month's worth of detentions.
Yet, to her eternal gratitude, Sirius's voice hissed into the room. "They already got it. Let's go!"
Not needing to be told twice, Rae darted out, and together they loped across the halls and up what seemed like a never-ending maze of stairs. By the time they reached the Fat Lady, they were panting heavily, and they stumbled into the common room gasping for air.
"What's the hurry, friends?" James cheekily called to them. He was sitting snug as could be on one of the ratty couches beside the fireplace. "There was no need to rush back; there is still plenty of time, though it wouldn't matter, as Remus and I have two of the three objects!"
From the armchair Remus grinned tauntingly. "How does it feel, Sirius, to be beaten so easily in your own game?"
A wide smile was Sirius' response, which made his friends falter marginally. "Don't be silly, now, boys."
A feminine yawn came from another couch, and a moment later, Lily rose high enough to peer at Sirius and Rae from over the high seat back. "No, really," she groaned with a self-satisfying stretch. "They win." She motioned to the carpeted ground before the fireplace, where a broom and a folded parchment were resting.
Sirius remained unfazed, though his mirth was nearly bubbling. "Do me a favor, dear Remus, as you are the closest and appear to be the least comfortable. Open that photograph so we can all see it, will you?"
Remus shot him a pointed look that clearly indicated he was not falling for Sirius' tricks, but when Sirius did not back down, he heaved out an exhausted sigh and went to retrieve the parchment. Upon unfolding it, his expression shattered. "Where did the photograph go?" he cried in a panic, shaking the material at James, who looked equally befuddled.
"Wonderful work, boys," Sirius sang, skipping over to them and pulling out his wand. He uttered a counter spell and the faux parchment transfigured back into Sirius sock.
Remus instantly released it, and jumped back for good measure. "That's impossible!"
"Apparently not," Sirius grinned, pulling up his left trouser leg and showcasing his bare ankle. "I should like that back, actually. My toes have been freezing. Rae, if you please," he gestured to her as he began untying his shoelaces.
The taste of victory was wonderful, and Rae could not fight the way her lips curled upward boastingly. She reached inside her cloak and retrieved the leather satchel, in which was Serverus' book and the genuine photograph. She held both up so all could see, and then handed them to Lily for an official verification. Lily, for all the effort she had expended for the scavenger hunt, pulled out her wand and tried a couple of reverse spells, just in case they were not authentic, either.
"They're real," she finally confessed, sending an apologetic look at James and Remus. "Sorry, Sirius and Rae win."
"That's right, gentlemen," Sirius proclaimed regally, "and henceforth Rae and I will be forever remembered as the Ultimate Mischief Night Champions! From this moment through the eve of December, you shall not refer to us by our given names, but by our well-earned titles! Perhaps next year victory will smile upon you, friends, but until then, we are the victors!"
The portrait swung open halfway through Sirius' speech, and Peter scrambled inside, resigning himself to wait awkwardly by the wall.
"Peter!" James laughed, easily noting his ruffled hair and crumpled clothing. "Where in Godric's name have you been?"
"Oh," he stammered, wringing his hands. "I, uh… I went to go team up with Davey Gudgeon, but it turns out that he was studying for the Herbology exam tomorrow. Did you guys know we have an exam?"
There was an assortment of 'no's and 'I've already studied' in response. Rae was content with shooting Sirius a half-hearted begrudging look, to which he responded with a trademark snarky grin.
"So what did you end up doing for the past hour and a half?" Remus asked, unwilling to let Peter off so easily.
"Right. I… I was coming back here but ran into Daisy Hookum, who was sneaking back from the library. Filch heard us talking, so we had to run and we ended up in an empty classroom on the fourth floor." Peter's cheeks were scarlet, and he had never appeared more uncomfortable in the years any of them had known him.
"You're kidding!" Sirius exclaimed. "All the hard work Lily and I put into devising this game and you ended up spending the whole time snogging Daisy?"
Unsure of a correct response, Peter merely offered a shrug and a hesitant smile.
"Alright," Lily sighed and stretched as she rose to her feet, evidently exhausted. "I'm glad everyone had a great time, but I'm exhausted. I'm off to bed. Happy Halloween, everyone."
Peter also mumbled "Happy Halloween, everyone," and then scurried off to the boy's staircase, much too eager to escape any further prying from his friends.
James laughed heartily and then turned to Sirius and Rae, offering a regal bow. "Good night, Ultimate Mischief Night Champions. Have fun studying." He gave Sirius a significant look and Rae couldn't decide if he meant for them to 'enjoy themselves' or if he had attempted to throw Sirius under the bus by reminding Rae about his promise. Whatever he meant, he retreated and was followed by Remus a moment later.
"Well, then," Sirius began, his tone taking on an inflection of seduction. He went so far as to peer around the common room as if to point out that they were completely alone. "It seems that we have the whole place to ourselves."
As much as Rae attempted to internally reason with herself that he was just trying to be coy and cheeky, she felt her cheeks warm and her breathing quicken.
Sirius began to close the distance between them and the corners of her lips quirked upward. "You know what this means, right?" he whispered huskily.
Rae's throat suddenly went dry, so even if she knew how to respond, she wouldn't have been able to vocalize it. Instead, all she could do was peer up into his warm eyes and brace herself as he slowly- painfully slowly- leaned closer to her. Instead of aiming for her lips, much to her disappointment, his lips found purchase of her earlobe, and the way his breath tickled the shell of her ear made her shiver in delight. "I need you to get something for me," he breathed between numbingly soft kisses.
Rae couldn't find her voice to save her life, and she was not about to nod because the motion might have made him pull away. All she could do was wait for him to continue, but he was making it far too difficult to focus properly. Her lids started to droop in pleasure, and she couldn't be entirely sure, but she felt herself begin to lean into him.
"I need you to go to your room, alright?" His lips placed more delightful grazes on the side of her neck. "And you need to come back with your textbook."
He had pulled away by the time she sluggishly processed the words, and she had to blink a few times to realize he was grinning at her. "Huh?" A stupid, inarticulate response, but it was all she could muster.
"Your textbook," he repeated, all traces of huskiness gone. "I promised to help you study, remember? Your textbook is in your room."
Rae floundered for a retort, but Sirius couldn't hold it in any longer and erupted in laughter.
"I'm sorry!" he panted between peals of laughter. "I couldn't pass that up!"
Red faced, and more than a little annoyed, Rae glared at him and then without warning, thrust her hand up to the back of his head. His giggles were cut short in his surprise, and she took advantage of his shock by leaning up to kiss him properly herself. Because if he wasn't going to get it on, she would take the lead.
Sirius' astonishment quickly burned into eagerness, and he hungrily responded by moving his lips against hers and draping his arms territorially around her waist. Neither of them would have been able to correctly guess how long they were tangled with each other, but they finally broke free and supported each other for a moment as they caught their balance.
"You're insufferable, you know?" she panted, trying to catch her breath.
"Of course. And you secretly love it."
"Don't press your luck," she smiled. "Happy Halloween," she said, placing another kiss on his puffy lips before turning and heading toward the stairs.
"Sweet dreams," he replied as she disappeared up the staircase. "Merlin, that was worth it," he sighed to himself happily, and then snorted in laughter as he thought of something. "Oh, dear Rae Kondersky, you made a large mistake." She had expressly told him to never, ever get her a cauldron full of Peppermint Toads, but had not been specific enough to prohibit more than one cauldron full. "I can't wait to see your reaction when you find three cauldrons in your room tomorrow night!"
With a satisfied chuckle, he ascended the stairs, as well, leaving a nearly burned out fireplace and two dozen carved pumpkins to occupy the common room.