Author's Note: Just a little one-shot I just scribbled down. Based off an Imagine of thefandomimagine on tumblr. Love this site ^^ ENJOY!
BLACK AFTERNOON
You used to call it Blacky. A fairly trite name, granted, but after all it's not your dog. It's just a big, cute fellow with tousled dark fur you met the first time about a month ago, when you went to the park after a day of hard work to finally finish reading your book of the week. It just appeared next to you on the bench you were sitting on, staring at you with those large grey eyes, until you gave in and began to ruffle the dog's fur, scratching it on its back, which you figured out it liked most. Since then it became kind of your daily rite to meet up with your animal friend, caressing and talking to it, whilst reading.
Therefore, it irritates you now to see a man sitting on your bench, letting his gaze wander over the splendid panorama of the park bathing in the golden light of the afternoon sun, as you are approaching it. He doesn't look bad, in fact you find him quite attractive - his wavy dark hair matches his trimmed beard and elegant green frock coat, which looked pretty vintage but stylish, perfectly - but he's still occupying the spot, where Blacky used to take a seat, and you don't like that. Nevertheless, you just sit down next to him and take the newly purchased book out of your bag, secretly hoping he would leave soon to clear the way for your animal companion.
"Marvellous, isn't it?" The smooth voice of the man completely interrupts your train of thoughts, drags you out of the fictional world you were just about to sink into. You don't turn to him, only shoot him a glance, whereby you notice how calm he looks. "A wonderful place to relax and to clear one's mind." He paused shortly, finally taking his eyes from the beautiful scenery in front of you two to look at the book in her hands. "And to read, as it seems. But that amounts to the same thing, I guess. New book?"
He gives you a soft smile, which both creeps you out a bit, since he's still a total stranger, and rays out so much confidence, as if he's not. "Yes. Just bought it."
"What is it now? Fantasy again?"
It makes you a bit uncomfortable that he speaks as if he knows about your reading habbits, so you just close the book, so that he can read the title himself.
"Ah, Around the World in Eighty Days. Good book. Good author. You have a great taste of literature."
"Uhm... Thank you."
As silence spreads between you two, you feel more and more awkward. Are you supposed to say something? Ask him what he was doing here? What he likes to read?
Before you can decide what to do, the man takes over again. "Where have I left my manners..." He holds his hand out to you, at least as far as this is possible at this little space between you. You smile and take it, desperately trying to avoid eye contact. His hand feels rough like the one of a construction worker. Despite his gentle aura and kind words, he had obviously gone through hard times once. "Sirius Black's the name."
There you finally look up, frowning. "Sorry... Did you say Black?"
He gives you a joyful nod. "And yours?", he asks, not waiting for you to digest what you just heard.
"Uh... Emily. Emily Olivier.", is your simple answer. You usually don't tell strangers anything about you, let alone your name, but you're still thinking about his. Black. Blacky. Weird.
"Emily...", the man repeats your name in such a smooth tone that it sends tingles to your head.
But you're even more taken aback, when you look into his eyes therefore, these soft grey eyes that are so incredibly familiar to you. No, that is impossible. Your fantasy filled brain just plays a trick on you. There's certainly a way simpler explanation to this phenomenon.
"Mr. Black... Do you have a dog?"
Sirius keeps smiling. "No."
It confuses you that he doesn't even want to know why you're asking. Another thought comes to your mind and before you can stop yourself from doing it, you say: "May I do something that will seem quite odd to you, Mr. Black?"
"Only if you start calling me Sirius."
You nod, swallow your fear and close the gap between you. From the corner of your eye you can see Sirius' smile change, becoming more of a smirk, but you can't concentrate on that. You're far too busy smelling at him and as soon as the pleasant scent of the dog you've been spending your afternoons with throughout the last weeks reaches your nose, you instantly draw back with widened eyes.
Sirius raises a brow in amusement. "And I thought you're going to scratch my back again. I wouldn't mind you doing that."
You aren't able to think, can barely breathe. What's happening - even though you can't actually conceive what's happening - sets you in a state of shock.
After a moment of silence, Sirius shrugs and stands up. "I'll have a drink in that pub over there. I'd be delighted if you joined me." With these words he slightly bows his head and ambles off. Before he disappears from sight completely, Sirius turns around once more, and, before giving you a wink, says loudly, so that you can hear him from the distance: "Oh, and maybe we can come back to that back-scratching later again. I'm really into that!"
