Dripping wet, Sirius Black stepped out of the shower to reluctantly get dressed for the evening. Liz had wanted to give him a full out birthday party with several guests and a big cake, but Sirius had gently suggested that they keep the evening simple and just have dinner with Remus and Katie. It was bad enough that he was turning sixty. No need to advertise to the whole world and invite a crowd of younger people to celebrate the old man.
He grabbed a towel and began drying himself off only to stop when he caught his reflection in the mirror. Sixty…sixty years old! He couldn't believe that this was his stomach, his hair, his skin. When did this happen? He stepped up closer to the mirror while examining his chest and stomach. The muscles that had once been so firm and toned were a bit on the flabby side. He flexed his arms tightening up the pectoral muscles. That looks much better! He smiled momentarily, but then frowned once he had relaxed and the flabbiness had returned. He shifted sideways so he could better see his stomach. No, he wasn't fat, but he no longer had that rippled effect he was so proud of in his youth. And dear lord! When did I get love handles?
He shrugged it off and returned to drying himself off. Rubbing the towel over his head, he created a deranged lunatic look with his hair. Again, he paused to lean towards the mirror and ran a hand through his thick hair. There was most assuredly, and to his disappointment, several flecks of white and gray spattered throughout the once all black hair. The worst area was a concentrated spot of rather wiry hairs at his temples. Well, at least I'm not bald.
Then he got a good look at his face. His blue eyes were the same color they had always been, but now they were surrounded by tiny crow's feet in the corners. Deeply etched lines ran across his once smooth forehead. And was it his imagination or were his cheeks sagging a bit? And the wrinkles weren't just on his face – oh no! For the last year or so, his hands seemed to have twice as much skin as was needed to cover them.
"Face it, you're not seventeen any more," the mirror informed him.
That's it! I'm not doing this!
Grabbing a robe from out of the closet, he threw it on and headed down the stairs to find Liz sitting at the table reading. She had been dressed and ready to go for a while yet. She looked up at him confused. "Why aren't you dressed?"
"I'm not going."
"Why ever not?"
"Liz, it's just silly. I am too old for a birthday party and I have no desire to be reminded of just how old I am."
"Oh please! Stop your whining and go and get dressed."
"I would rather we just stay home and ignore the significance of the date."
Liz closed her book pointedly. ""Fine. If you don't want to celebrate, then I guess you don't want your gifts, either."
That got his attention. "Gifts?"
"Yes, gifts. You didn't think I would forget to give you a present, did you?"
Sirius smirked at her. "All right. I'll go. But I want my presents now."
Liz favored him with a smile and handed him a brown package from Griffin. Sirius tore into it to reveal a black nit sweater. He held it up and Liz cocked an eyebrow at him. "Sexy."
"Don't start, Liz."
"What? I'm entitled to my opinion, and I think you would look rather sexy if you wore that tonight."
"Sexy? You think love handles and wrinkles are sexy?"
"On you, definitely!" Sirius shook his head at her. "Now, go and get dressed before Remus and Katie get here and see you wearing my robe!"
Sirius glanced down and realized he was indeed wearing a woman's robe. But that didn't distract him from the fact that he hadn't received a gift from his wife. "Don't I get a present from you?"
"GO!"
Like a scolded child, Sirius trudged up the steps and returned to his room where he began dressing. He pulled on some black trousers to go with the sweater. He ran a hand through his still mussed hair and turned to the mirror again to comb through it. Hey, Liz is right. This sweater is kind of sexy. Wait…where did that come from? He parted his hair with the comb but was distracted by a very overwhelming feeling of energy. Suddenly deciding to be different, he decided to go with a new look. He usually wore his hair parted to the side, but tonight he wanted to look…what's the word? HIP! Redoing the part down the middle, he glopped some of Liz' hair gel onto his fingers and dabbed the gel into his hair. Fewer grays show this way. I like it!
He examined his "new look" once again and gave a wicked grin at his reflection. "Black…Sirius Black…" He raised his eyebrows and posed with his hands at his hips like a model on the cover of some fashion magazine for men. "Who says sixty isn't sexy?" Raising a hand to point at his reflection, he told himself, "You look good!"
"That's the sprit!" the mirror replied.
Feeling much better about the evening, Sirius went back downstairs with a new lilt in his step. At the foot of the steps, he heard Remus and Katie laughing from the front room while Liz told them some story. As he drew closer, he understood exactly why they were laughing.
"So there he stood, looking over his shoulder, flexing and relaxing his cheeks over and over again. I couldn't help but ask what the devil he was doing. Then he says 'Does my behind look flabby to you?' I nearly fell on the floor!"
Remus and Katie howled in delight. Sirius, however, blushed from embarrassment. "That's right. Have a good laugh at the birthday boy."
Liz jerked around quickly and put her hand to her mouth in surprise of being caught tattle-telling on her husband. But she gasped in even more surprise as her wide eyes took in the full length of him. "Sirius? What did you do?"
"What do you mean?"
She walked up to him and ran her hands over his shoulders and down his stomach. "You look so wonderful!"
"As opposed to how wretched I look every other day?"
"That is not what I meant, and you know it. It's just that you look completely different tonight." Her hands rested on his waist possessively.
"I decided to try something new with my hair. You like it?"
"Yes, but I like the fit of this sweater even more!" She leaned into him and kissed him deeply. Sirius could tell from the hunger in her kiss that this was going to be a long night. After a moment, they remembered they weren't alone and broke apart.
"Griffin will be getting a 'Thank You' note from me, as well! Now, I suppose we should let him open the rest of his gifts before we leave for the restaurant."
Remus handed Sirius a bottle of Dom Perignon that had a large, red bow attached to the front. "We considered giving you those 'Buns of Steel' video tapes Muggles are always talking about, but we opted to go with the champagne instead."
"Watch it, Moony. I'm not the one with a full head of white hair!"
"Touché, Padfoot."
Liz pulled out a decorated box from the closet and handed it to her husband. "Harry sent this over a few days ago. He was rather disappointed that you weren't having a party, but I explained that you were being a baby and wanted to keep the evening simple."
"Liz, Harry and Ginny could have come along. I wouldn't have complained."
"Yes, but if we invited them, then Ron and Hermione would have wanted to come. And then we would be back at having a larger party, now wouldn't we."
"I'm not a baby! There hasn't been a baby in this house since…since…"
"Since twenty minutes ago when you came down and said you didn't want to go out tonight. Now just open Harry's present."
Sirius did as he was told and was rather perplexed at what he found inside the box. "A leather jacket? Why would he give me this?"
"Probably because I told him you used to have one and that you wore it all the time," Remus said.
"Yes, but after watching Draco go though his leather phase a few years back, I came to realize that it really isn't something a grown man should wear often."
"It isn't as if he gave you leather pants, Sirius," Katie
said. "It's a jacket, and there isn't
anything wrong about a man in a leather jacket. Now, we have one from Malcolm
as well. He really wanted to be here,
but he's on assignment." She passed
Sirius a thick, but smaller package.
"Looks like a book," Sirius said ripping into it. "It is a book. 'The Definitive History of Goblin Rebellions'? What in the world?" Sirius opened up the cover to find a note inside.
Sirius –
Thought you could use this book for you collection. Sorry I could not be there to celebrate with you. No matter how many birthdays you may have I want you to solemnly swear that you will never grow up.
Love always,
Malcolm
With a good laugh, Sirius tapped the book with his wand and said, "I solemnly swear that I will never grow up." A puff of smoke covered the book. A moment later when the air cleared, Sirius read the real title of the book out loud for everyone to hear. " It says 'Detection and Removal of Illegal Charms on Muggle Artifacts: A Guide For the Inspector' by Arthur Weasley (not to be distributed outside the Ministry of Magic). He must have heard about the number of cases I've been reading about with enchanted Muggle items." Sirius looked up to find that Remus, Katie, and Liz were all looking at one another, trying to avoid Sirius' face.
"What's the matter?"
"Sirius, dear, I think it's time I gave you my gift." Liz held out a tiny little box. Sirius wasn't all that impressed with the size of the gift she was giving him, but he grinned and opened it up. Inside he found a key. But a key to what? "Let me guess, a key to your heart?"
"Would I be that sappy and sentimental? No, go look in the garage." Sirius didn't quite know weather or not to believe her, so he was very hesitant to go look. "Trust me!" she reassured him.
Obediently, Sirius went out to the garage to see just what Liz had purchased. Upon opening the door, he froze. He couldn't believe his eyes. "Liz…you…you…that's a…"
"Motorcycle. I know." She said from behind him. "A 1952 Vincent Black Lightening to be precise. I have been told they are a rather fine machine."
Sirius felt like a child at Christmas. "This is a joke, isn't it?"
"No joke. It's completely bought and paid for…and 100% yours to do with as you please."
Sirius walked around the bike running a hand over the seat and frame. "Does it fly?"
"Not yet, but I have it on good authority that you have a knack for enchanting Muggle items."
He spun around and swept her up into his arms. Her feet came off the ground as he picked her up and planted a kiss on her mouth. "I love it! Thank you!" Setting her feet back on solid ground, Sirius continued kissing her. He felt so alive – so young! Her hands ran over his back sending a wave of tingles through his whole body. Slowly he pulled his lips from hers. "How long has everyone known about this?'
"For a while. But I didn't tell Griffin. I thought it best if he wasn't in on it as I wasn't sure he'd be able to keep his own hands off the bike. Like father like son."
Sirius laughed into her mouth as he kissed her again. Sirius' mind went blank. He didn't care much about dinner anymore – only that his wife was here and that she had just surprised him with the best birthday gift he could ever ask for. That and the fact that she was wearing that gorgeous little blue dress he adored so much. It was only the sound of Remus clearing his throat that brought him back to his senses.
"I hate to interrupt, but our reservation is for eight o'clock. We had better get going."
