One Shot: Sirius Black and Annalisa Sergretti
Sirius Black: Sirius is the best friend of James Potter and Remus Lupin. He is tall, slim, slightly muscular, and very handsome. He has long, wavy dark hair that falls elegantly into his dazzling blue-gray eyes. He comes off as a lady's man, but those who truly know him know that he's really a sweet and sensitive gentleman who happens to break the rules and cause mischief while still getting top marks. His animagus is a giant black dog.
Annalisa Sergretti: Anna is the best friend of Lily Evans, Remus Lupin, and Sofia Vasillieva. She is small, petite, graceful, and beautiful. She has long, curly brown hair with a pair of breathtakingly bright amethyst eyes that hide behind a pair of black rectangular glasses. She comes off as shy and introverted, but those who truly know her are aware that she is extremely daring, fearless, and obtains a rather wild personality. Many students and teachers underestimate her abilities when it comes to mischief and schoolwork. Her animagus is a fluffy, long-haired gray cat.
Sirius Black has grabbed the attention of many young witches at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, but none of their feelings even come close to how Annalisa Sergretti feels. Annalisa, a small and petite girl with long curly brown hair with breathtaking amethyst eyes that hide behind her rectangle glasses, pretty much grew up with Sirius. Sirius was a small and awkward little boy who had a head of hair that was about twice the size of his head, but was very adorable all the same.
You see, Annalisa's parents were very well connected wizards; they knew everyone who was anyone, including the Blacks. So when Annalisa's parents had the Blacks over for afternoon tea, Annalisa met Sirius. But when Annalisa's parents died when she was only eight years old, she had to live with her muggle grandmother, far away from Sirius. She always promised herself that she would see him again, but as the years went by she started getting doubts in her mind, but she never completely gave up hope.
Annalisa's grandmother lived in a very small town that was next to Spinner's End, called Withering Willow, where she met young Lily Evans; who was a sweet little red headed girl with astonishingly green eyes. And when Annalisa got her letter from Hogwarts at age ten, she couldn't have been more thrilled to know that Lily had gotten the same letter. They made a promise to each other on the train that no matter what Hogwarts had in store for them, they would stay friends through it all.
So when Lily was sorted into Gryffindor while Annalisa got into Ravenclaw, that's just what they did. When exams drew nearer, they met every evening in the library to do studying, and they were joined before long by Remus Lupin of Gryffindor, Sofia Vasillieva of Ravenclaw, and Wesley Robinson of Hufflepuff. That single group of five became very good friends, so close that they are still friends, four years later.
It was late in the evening and Annalisa was wide awake in her dormitory. She was sitting on her bed, dressed in her pajamas, thinking about the first time she had talked to Sirius Black in five years.
It had been about two years earlier on Christmas Eve and Annalisa was the only one in her house who was staying at the castle for the holidays. It was around mid-day and Annalisa was bored out of her mind. She needed something to do. Now she thought about it, she was also rather hungry. So she decided she would take a little detour down to the kitchen and sneak some left-over's.
When she got down to the basement, she paused by a painting of a large fruit basket. She quickly checked to make sure the coast was clear before tickling the pear, making the painting swing open to reveal the kitchen. Before she walked in she quickly transformed into her animagus form, which was a fluffy gray cat.
She quietly slithered in and crawled her way over to where she smelled fish. When she was absolutely sure the coast was clear, she pounced on the table and started nibbling at the tuna. Not for long though because after a couple of seconds the house-elves saw her and chased her out while brandishing knives and forks.
Once she was out she changed back into her human form and just walked around aimlessly. Before she knew it she was on the third floor and she was just about to go up to the fourth when she saw a certain someone walking down the corridor looking very guilty with an armful of dung bombs. Being the curious and nosy person that Annalisa is, she changed back into her animagus form and followed him down to the Defense Against the Dark Arts corridor.
He was just about to drop the whole lot when she changed back into her human form again.
"Well, well, well," Annalisa said with a highly amused tone of voice. "What do you think you're doing Sirius?"
Sirius, who had matured quite a bit over the past six years, spun around with a very guilty look painted on his handsome face.
He was not exactly the awkward little boy with too much hair anymore. He was actually a bit . . . handsome. He still had an incredible amount of hair on his head, but instead of its normal crazy bushiness, it was a bit tamer, and the way it fell elegantly into his big blue-gray eyes reminded Annalisa of the first time she had ever laid her eyes on them.
"Sergretti! What are you doing down here?" he asked in surprise.
"First of all, Black, I have a name as you very well know. Secondly, I asked you first. And thirdly, I was bored and had nothing else better to do. Now whatever it is that you're planning or doing, I want in."
To Annalisa's surprise, Sirius chuckled.
"Oh no, Lisa," this caught Annalisa by surprise, for no one had called her Lisa since she was seven years old, "this is not amateur hour. This is no mere prank that I am pulling. You have to be daring, rash, bold, quick –"
"To throw a bunch of dung bombs down a corridor?"
"I – uh – yeah?" he stammered weakly.
Annalisa laughed.
"Fine, if you don't want to tell me –"
"Okay, okay I'll tell you," he said dropping his voice to a whisper. "Professor Hordon gave me detention for something stupid and I'm going to show him what happens when he messes with a Black."
"Well, what did you do?"
"I told him that he was a thick-headed git who doesn't know the first thing about Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"Sirius!"
"Not to his face!" he added quickly as if he thought that would help. "I was just joking around with James, Remus, and Peter. It's his own fault he was eavesdropping on our conversation; if he had been minding his own business, I wouldn't have gotten into trouble and he wouldn't have gotten insulted."
"Still, you really shouldn't do this just because he gave you detention. You get detention for doing things all the time and you never do anything to them."
"Well that's because none of the other teachers eavesdrop on people's conversations!"
"But if you get caught you'll just get into even more trouble. Now give me those and I'll dispose of them properly."
She made a dive for the bombs, but Sirius's reflexes were too fast and he dodged her.
"No. You see Lisa, that's your problem right there; you never want to have fun. Even when we were kids you were that way."
"Sirius, you know you don't want to do this."
"Oh yes, I really do."
"Sirius don't make me do what I am about to do."
"Do what? Try to get me to stop? Ha! I don't think so."
Annalisa quickly pulled out her wand and chose some well spoken words. Sirius's bundle of bombs immediately flew out of his arms and landed rather gracefully in hers.
Just then, there came a hoarse voice from behind her.
"So, you think that just because the school is empty you can get away with reckless rule-breaking do you?"
It was Filtch the Caretaker.
Annalisa started turning around as slowly as she could, but when she saw Filtch's ugly face and deep, cold black eyes about a foot from her face, she couldn't help it; out of surprise and minor fright, she dropped the whole lot of dung bombs onto the cold marble floor of Hogwarts.
There was a loud bang that seemed to shake the entire castle. Shortly afterwards, a very sickening and truly revolting stench filled the entire corridor.
"You two – come – now!" Filtch gagged.
The two third years didn't need to be told twice; they immediately followed Filtch into his office.
"You two are in so much trouble!" he said as he rummaged around his desk for a piece of paper and a quill. "Stealing dung bombs," Annalisa shot a very nasty look at Sirius out of the corner of her eye, "lighting them off in the entire Defense Against the Dark Arts corridor!"
"Mr. Filtch, with all due respect, it was all my idea. I stole them sir, and it was me planning on lighting them off in the corridor. Sirius was just trying to stop me."
Filtch sniggered.
"Yeah right! This kid right here? Sirius Black, try and stop someone from lighting off dung bombs in a deserted corridor? What are you playing at girl? He was probably the master mind behind the brilliant plan," shouted Filtch in outrage.
"Mr. Filtch, I promise with all the life in me that I am not lying. I have not lied at all in my life, why would I start now?"
"What are you doing?" whispered Sirius.
"Saving your life," she whispered back.
Filtch took a moment to study their faces; looking for even the slightest hint of untruthfulness. He must not have found it because he released Sirius and told him to stay in his common room and swore that if he misbehaved one more time that he would be expelled for sure. Annalisa, however, was assigned to work in the kitchen every night for two weeks. After Filtch released her, she trudged back up to her dormitory and plopped herself on a sofa and didn't move at all until dinner.
"Annalisa, what are you still doing here?"
Annalisa jumped up in surprise, and as she peeled her eyes from the window she was very pleased to see her best friend Sofia walk into the dormitory. Sofia was slightly taller than Annalisa and had very long, straight black hair with lovely and intelligent brown eyes.
"Sofia, you scared me," she said clutching her heart. "So how was detention with McGonagall?"
"Ugggh! Horrible! She made me do lines for like five hours! And I'm not overreacting when I say that I think I have permanent blisters on my fingers now."
"It's okay, I'm sure Madam Pomfrey can give you something tomorrow."
"I suppose," she said as she massaged her fingers and made her way to Annalisa's bed, sitting at the foot. "So you still haven't answered my question yet."
"What are you talking about? I was just waiting for you to get back."
"Mhm," said Sofia, clearly not convinced. "Come on, you were thinking about someone." Sofia was now wearing a rather sly smile that always meant she knew what was up, even if you didn't; she always had a knack for knowing what people were really up to.
"Okay fine," Annalisa said, dropping her voice to a whisper, "I was thinking about Sirius again."
At that, Sofia let out a rather loud and impatient groan.
"Annalisa, I thought you got over him a long time ago?"
"Sofia, you don't get it, I've known him since I was four years old. I can't just forget about him completely on the spot!"
"Anna, sweetie, I care about you, okay? I want you to be healthy. And doing this to yourself is the complete opposite," Sofia said gently as she placed a reassuring hand on Annalisa's arm.
"What are you saying Sofia?"
"I'm saying that maybe you should forget about Mr. Heart-throb for about five minutes and find yourself an actual worthy boyfriend. Then you can go back to your little fantasy land if it doesn't work out."
"I don't want to talk about this right now," Anna said stiffly. "I'm going to bed now, and I suggest you do the same."
When Sofia crossed the room to her bed, Annalisa pulled back the covers of her own four-poster, fluffed up the pillow a bit more, and just lay there staring at the ceiling . . . thinking.
What was Sofia thinking, how could she possibly forget about Sirius that quickly? They had known each other since they were toddlers. If only Sofia knew the whole story. She was, after all, just trying to help; just trying to look out for her best friend. And for that, Anna stopped thinking about it and decided it would be a good time to go to bed.
The next day, the fifth year Ravenclaws had Charms first thing with the Gryffindors. So as they were practicing Vanishing Spells, Sofia told Lily about what happened the previous night, and of course, she was on Sofia's side.
"Anna, Sofia's right. You've been into Sirius Black for a while now. The only way for you to get him out of your mind –"
"But what if I don't want to get him out of my mind? Has anyone taken that into account?"
Sofia looked at Lily rather nervously.
"You really like him, don't you," Sofia said. It wasn't a question, but a statement.
Annalisa nodded while staring at the wood desk which was carrying a feather that they were told to attempt to vanish.
"Then we just have to get him to like you back," said Lily simply, while successfully vanishing her feather.
"How are you going to manage that trick?" asked Anna in a very amused voice that had a sprinkle of curiosity that could only be detected if you were really paying attention.
"I know Sirius and he's definitely into you. So all we have to do is get some other guy to ask you out."
"But how's that going to get Sirius to ask me out?"
"Sirius gets very jealous. He's used to always getting what he wants, when it comes to girls anyway. He only wants what he realizes he can't have. So when he sees you with another man, he'll get jealous and –"
"And confess he likes you!" Sofia finished.
"Exactly! So what do you think?"
"It's a great plan and everything, but who wants to go out with me?"
Sofia and Lily immediately started blurting out names.
"Let's see, oh, there's Oliver Bramwell, Hufflepuff Quidditch Captain," suggested Sofia.
"No, I heard he's got a temperament problem," interjected Lily. "How about Charlie Sobeski?"
"Can't, he's going out with Jasmine remember?" said Sofia.
"Oh yeah."
"Oh, I got it, Remus Lupin!"
"That's a good idea Sofia, but he doesn't date, the little whimp. How about –"
"How about Wesley Robinson of Hufflepuff?" suggested Annalisa. "I mean he's single, smart, and a Beater on the Quidditch team."
"Anna that's absolutely brilliant!" Lily exclaimed. "I'm sure he'd agree to go out with you. I mean, who wouldn't?"
"Just one problem, where are they going to go?"asked Sofia.
"There's a Hogsmeade trip this weekend he can take me to."
"Brilliant! I have Herbology with him next. I'll talk to him and let you know tonight, how's that?"
"That's perfect," said Annalisa and Sofia together.
So that evening, Sofia and Annalisa waited in the library for Lily. When she finally arrived the two Ravenclaw girls attacked her with anxious questions.
"What happened?"
"Did he say yes?"
"Did you make sure Sirius was within earshot?"
"Whoa, whoa, calm down and let me take a breather," said Lily sitting down at the table. "I talked to Wesley in Herbology and he seemed pretty into going to Hogsmeade with you, Anna."
"Excellent!" said Annalisa.
"And of course I made sure Sirius was within earshot, Sofia. Heck, I made sure he was right next to me. And, based on his body language and facial expressions, he seemed pretty into our conversation. Girls, the plan is officially intact!"
"Brilliant!" they said high fiving each other.
"Shut up, here comes Remus," whispered Sofia.
"Okay what's going on? I heard my name," he said in a bored monotone voice as he set his books on the table taking the seat next to Lily.
"Oh nothing, we were just talking about how cute you are when you're bored," said Sofia simply.
Remus didn't look satisfied, but let it go. They were about to start studying Transfiguration when Wesley came walking very briskly into the library to join them.
"Sorry I'm late guys," he panted, taking the seat next to Annalisa. "I got help up at Quidditch practice. We play Slytherin next week and we have to practice extra hard if we even want a fighting chance of beating them."
"That's alright," said Lily, giving Annalisa a sneaky wink. "We were just about to study Transfiguration."
Their study session went really well. They got through Transfiguration perfectly and got halfway through Potions. At the end, Wesley pulled Annalisa aside before they went their separate ways to their dormitories.
"Hey, Annalisa, mind if we have a quick word?"
"Sure, Wesley."
"So Lily told me in Herbology today that you kind of have a thing for me," he said.
"Well, yeah, I guess I do. I mean we've been good friends for four years now and I can understand if you don't want to . . . you know."
"Don't want what? To go out with you?" Wesley snorted. "I would be an idiot if I said I don't want to. So would you like to go to Hogsmeade this weekend?"
Annalisa paused for a minute, she was having second thoughts. What if Wesley started to actually like her? How would she break it off with if everything went according to plan?
"Sure," she said finally.
"Excellent! I'll meet you it the front doors at two, is that alright?"
"Yeah. That's great."
"See you then," he said. They embraced in a quick hug and when they let go, Wesley flashed a very wide grin before heading down to the basement.
Annalisa just stood there for a few moments, shocked by what just happened. Something about this didn't feel quite right to her. She needed to think. She needed to be alone for a while. So she walked down to the Entrance Hall, checked to make sure nobody was around, and then quickly changed into her animagus form and slipped out through a side door into the night.
She walked quickly and swiftly through the grounds and in no time at all, she was by a familiar beech tree that was placed right by the edge of the Black Lake. Without thinking twice, she immediately made a giant leap and landed quite gracefully on the first branch of the tree. She shook off the loose bark that was on her fur and gazed up at the stars dreamily for what felt like the longest time. Until she heard the sudden rustle of grass, deep breathing, and something that sounded like a runny nose. Whoever it was that was still up and about had positioned them self right under the very branch Annalisa was now sitting.
She leaned carefully over the edge, putting her claws out for better traction, in order to see who it was. When she realized it was Sirius, she made to pull back up, but she lost her footing and fell right into his lap. For a moment they sat frozen, just staring into each other's eyes. Sirius's were full of pain, ache, and sorrow, and she could have sworn she saw a single tear stream down his face. But what was making him act this way? She hadn't ever seen him cry, and she was almost positive he was incapable of crying.
"Where did you come from?" he asked, wiping his eyes on the back of his sleeve. "Are you okay? That was a nasty fall you did just then."
Sirius began stroking her head gently, and she began to purr. She relaxed against his chest and nuzzled her head under his chin.
"You're a nice little cat, aren't you," he cooed, Annalisa kept purring. "You are so lucky you don't go to school. What with the classes, exams, and girls, it gets pretty stressful. Like this one girl that I have liked for a long time now. She's so sweet and funny it's almost intimidating to be around her. She's so beautiful and graceful, 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?' I've been meaning to tell her how I feel, but I guess I assumed she'd always be there, so I put it off more and more. Now look where it got me; sitting outside at night talking to a cat while she's inside in bed, probably dreaming about what's-his-name. Am I going crazy?"
He looked down into Annalisa's eyes, as though waiting for her to answer. When she shook her head, Sirius jumped in surprise. Annalisa lifted her head, licked his chin, and then pounced off and made her way back up to the castle.
The rest of the week seemed to just fly by, and before she knew it, Annalisa was on her way down to the front doors to meet Wesley. She was both nervous and terrified; she had never done anything like this before. How was she supposed to act, what was she supposed to do if there was an awkward silence? Plus, she was really starting to hate the idea of using one of her best friends for her own greedy and selfish game.
"Ready to go then?" Wesley asked when she finally arrived.
He was wearing a royal purple button-up shirt with the collar popped up that matched his eyes perfectly and really went well with his dirty blonde hair, which he wore a bit messy, as usual, and with the bangs flipped to the right side of his face. Over his shirt, he wore a black sweater vest that had navy blue and gray diamonds on it with a black leather jacket over that. He was also wearing a pair of loose-fitted, but not too loose, blue jeans that complimented him in all the right places.
Annalisa was wearing skinny jean pants that were tucked into her black boots. On top, she wore a long-sleeved navy blue V-neck shirt with a long gray sweater over it, a black pea-coat, and a white scarf with matching gloves and hat.
She nodded in reply and he escorted her through the giant oak front doors with the rest of the school.
"How about we go to the Three Broomsticks first, is that alright?" he suggested.
"That's perfect," she said a little too enthusiastically; she loved the three broomsticks.
They made their way through the muddy streets of Hogsmeade with his arm wrapped nicely around her waist and her arm in the same position on his body. When they arrived at the Three Broomsticks, Wesley ordered them both a bottle of Butterbeer.
The whole date was not what Annalisa expected at all. It seemed like the only thing Wesley would talk about was Quidditch. Even though Annalisa enjoyed Quidditch as much as the next person, there was only so much she could take. She found herself totally spacing out while Wesley would go on and on about foul plays and penalties. She would occasionally say things like, "yeah," and, "really?" to show that she was just as into the conversation as he was.
Over the next few weeks, people started to realize that Wesley and Annalisa were a "thing." Since Sirius did not said anything to her, she decided she would make the most of her new boyfriend. As it turned out, Wesley was actually a really sweet boyfriend; he would always carry her books and walk her to her classes, and on weekends they would sit by the Black Lake and just talk. And as May came around the corner, teachers became a bit anal about homework assignments. But the students were given another Hogsmeade day; it was scheduled the weekend before exams were going to be held.
It was Wednesday afternoon and the Ravenclaws had double potions with the Hufflepuffs; it was their last class of the day and everybody was determined to finish their potion on time. Annalisa, who was sharing a table with Wesley, was particularly focused and determined to get it perfect.
"Annalisa," he whispered as he poured lace-wing flies into his cauldron, while Annalisa was cutting a celery shaped ingredient. "I've been thinking and we should do something nice for our three month anniversary. There's a really nice coffee shop in Hogsmeade we could go to if you like."
"That sounds great Wesley, but I really need that day to study for O.W.L.s."
"Okay, we can study together then."
"No," she said flatly. "I'm sorry Wesley but I need to focus, really focus, without distractions."
"Well, okay," he said sounding kind of down.
"Listen, Wesley," she said turning to face him. "We will do something special. I promise."
She then stood on her tippy toes to give him a kiss on the lips which he returned more than passionately, picking her up and spinning her around in his arms. Her arms were around his neck while his were wrapped tightly around her waist. And for the longest moment they had completely forgotten they were in potions class until they heard a loud bang. They immediately broke apart only to find out that their potion had exploded.
"Miss Sergretti and Mr. Robinson," said Professor Slughorn, clearly frustrated. "We all know how madly in love with each other you two are, but that does not give you free license to do whatever you want to in my class. Now stop snogging and get back to your potion, or what is left of it anyway."
"Yes professor," they said with guilty looks on their faces; Annalisa's had gone a deep red out of embarrassment.
When Saturday crept upon them, Wesley went to Hogsmeade with just about the rest of the school while Annalisa stayed behind. It wasn't that she didn't want to go with him, but more of the reason that she just wanted to have some time alone. And she figured that the only way for her to do that would be to stay at the castle while everyone else was gone.
She was so desperate to be alone that she decided to change into her animagus form and walk around the grounds. She was just about to pounce playfully on a field mouse when something caught her eye; Sirius Black was sitting in the same spot she'd seen him sit at before, under the beech tree. She walked briskly over to him, nudging her head against his arm while purring madly.
"Hey, it's you again," he said excitedly, scooping her into his arms. "I was wondering when I'd see you."
He stroked her head gently for what felt like the longest time.
"You know, there is something about you that seems very familiar; your eyes, I feel like I've seen them before on someone. What am I saying? I'm probably going mad or something."
Annalisa then jumped abruptly out of his arms and went behind the tree to change back into her human form.
"Sirius Black, what are you doing out here?" she said taking a seat next to him. "Aren't you supposed to be in Hogsmeade?"
"Oh, Lisa, it's you," he said, clearly startled. "You surprised me."
"Sorry. So you still haven't answered my question."
"You know what, why aren't you at Hogsmeade?" he shot back hotly.
"Oh no, don't pull that game with me, I asked you first."
"Fine, if you must know, in the beginning of the year I was banned from visiting the village to the rest of the year," he explained. "Now you go. Shouldn't you be with your boyfriend in Hogsmeade or something?"
Annalisa laughed.
"You would think that, wouldn't you Sirius? No, I actually just needed to be by myself for a bit, but then I saw you over here looking all moody and I thought I would come and try to cheer you up."
"I miss you, Lisa," he said suddenly.
"I miss you too, Sirius."
"I've known you for a long time now. What, eleven years? And do you know what shocked me the most?"
"What?"
"The day I found out you actually said yes to Wesley Robinson. I mean Wesley Robinson? Of all the guys in the school you could have had, you chose Wesley Robinson?"
"Why do you care who I go out with anyway?" she asked surprised.
"Because he's got to be the biggest prick in the entire castle, no offense."
"No offense? That's my boyfriend you're bashing. You better watch your mouth or I'll curse you," she said, brandishing her wand in his face threateningly. Sirius just laughed.
"Really Lisa?"
"No, but if you make me mad enough I will."
"Oh come on, you and I both know you don't really like the guy; you're dating him for some other reason. What, does he give a good snog?"
"Excuse me? I'll have you know that I like Wesley very much."
"Mhm. Whatever you say," he said thoroughly unconvinced.
Annalisa took a deep breath; she couldn't hide it anymore, he already knew.
"Okay, fine, I'll tell you. I originally only did date Wesley to make you jealous. But when that didn't work I gave up and started dating him for real."
"But why would you want to make me jealous in the first place?"
Annalisa took another deep breath.
"Because I liked you Sirius, and Lily said that the only way to get you to like me back was if I got you jealous by dating another guy."
They were silent for the longest time.
"You mean you – you like . . . me?" he stammered.
"That's what I said isn't it? But it's okay. You clearly don't like me back and I accept that. You've moved on, I get it."
"Lisa, if you truly think I don't like you then you couldn't be more wrong."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean I have liked you since the moment I met you, since the first time I gazed into your lovely eyes."
"But why didn't you tell me that earlier? It would have made this whole little scheme to get you to like me go by a hell of a lot smoother, I can promise you that."
"For the same reason why you never told me, out of the fear of being rejected."
"Really?"
"No. I took you for granted. I always thought that you would always be available. So as the years went by I put off telling you how I felt."
"Really Sirius? That's how you really feel about me? Well that's just dumb. Nobody's available forever. Well, except for Dumbledore."
Sirius laughed.
"You know what Sirius?"
"What?"
"I never really gave up hope on you."
"Me neither, Lisa; me neither."
And at that, Lisa leaned over and kissed Sirius on the cheek. He took her face delicately in his hands and kissed her passionately on the lips, running his fingers through her silky, raspberry scented hair. Lisa did the same thing. She spent all her childhood dreaming about this moment, and now that it was finally happening, it was like a dream come true and she only knew one thing, she never wanted to wake up.