I heard a knock on the door and I opened my eyes reluctantly to see Sirius enter my room with a tray of breakfast. "Morning, sleepy head," He grinned at me as he sat the tray on my bed side cabinet, and I once again noticed how his smile made him seem much younger.
"Morning," I grimaced as he opened the curtains and let the sun shine through. I rubbed my eyes with my bawled up fists and heaved the tray of food onto my lap. "Why are you so cheery this morning?"
Sirius grinned again and sat at the end of my bed, "Just thankful that I can actually see the daylight and breathe fresh air. I woke up this morning and I heard the most glorious thing to ever hit my eardrums."
"What was it?" I asked, not really listening as the pancakes, sausages and pumpkin juice Sirius made me were screaming for attention.
"Mrs Green mowing her lawn," Sirius sighed. "I've never been so happy to hear a lawn mower."
I laughed and choked on the pumpkin juice. "What day is it?" I asked, wiping my mouth with my pyjama sleeve.
"Saturday," Sirius began fiddling with the bottom of my duvet and I wriggled my toes under the sheets.
"Can we go to Diagon Alley today then?" I asked, slicing into the pancakes and feeling my mouth water as the butter melted onto the plate. "Obviously you could go as Snuffles, it's just that mum and I always go to Diagon Alley once every month. Mainly for the excitement of being among civilisation than anything else."
Sirius grinned and shrugged, "I suppose. Nobody's knows I'm an animagus so we should be okay."
"Good," I smiled at my uncle.
"Is she up yet?!" Mum shouted from downstairs.
"Yes!" Sirius called back. "She's been nagging about you all morning, you know," he told me.
I wrinkled my nose, "She tends to do that when she gets stressed. You would think most mums would just have a heart attack under such stress, but no!"
Sirius laughed, "Your mum's not that bad." I raised an eyebrow at him. "Okay when we were your age she was a bit weird, a bit like you actually."
I swatted Sirius' arm, only making him laugh harder. "I am not weird! I have friends! The only friend mum has is Mrs Green!"
"She's got me!" Sirius stated, stealing a bit of bacon off my plate and earning a glare from me.
I rolled my eyes, "Are you female Sirius? No, I don't think so."
Sirius grinned.
I licked my lips and sat my cutlery on my now empty plate, "Thank you very much Sirius, that was delicious."
"Thanks," Sirius casually. "Your mum made it."
"I thought the bacon tasted familiar," I smiled.
"Right, come on! Out of bed!" Sirius pulled my duvet off me and I yelped when the cold air smothered my body.
"NoooOOoo!" I wailed and attempted to pull the covers back.
"No! Ly! Come on! Get ready! It's already eleven!" Sirius told me, trying to be mature, but as I had learned over the first three days of Sirius staying with us, Sirius was far from mature. I think that after getting out of Azkaban, Sirius was finally doing fun things that he never had the chance to do before he went in. On the second day of staying with us he spent the whole day making cookies for us and Mrs Green, and the way he squealed excitedly when the oven peeped, signalling that the cookies were ready, told me that Sirius had not had as much fun making cookies in his life.
"I know! Eleven!" I gasped in mock horror. "It should be against the law to be up this early!"
"Come on Ly!" Sirius whined, taking the tray and sitting it on the floor. "Don't make me sponge you."
I snorted, "Sponge me?! What in Merlin's name is that?"
Sirius grinned wickedly, "It's how I used to get James out of bed back at Hogwarts."
"Ah right," I nodded. "Well, there will be no need to sponge me, because if you even try to sponge me, I'll hex you into next century."
Sirius grinned and made for the bathroom. "Oh no you don't!" I warned him, pushing back my covers and clambering out of bed.
"Oh yes I do!" Sirius teased and ran into the bathroom.
Before I could protest, Sirius was tackling me with a soaking wet sponge and was laughing hysterically. "Sirius!" I shouted as he shoved the sponge in my face. I choked on the soapy water and grabbed the sponge from him.
I rung the sponge over his head and soaked Sirius' face with soapy water. "In your face! Sponge boy!" I mocked an evil laugh, grinning triumphantly and ran to the bathroom, where I ran the sponge under the tap again.
"Ly are you dressed yet?" Just as I was in mid-hurl, I spotted mum standing by the door with a frown on her face. "Sirius! You're supposed to be getting her up!"
"I am getting her up!" Sirius pointed at me. "She's out of bed isn't she?"
When mum noticed that both Sirius and I were soaked through, she rolled her eyes and walked out, muttering something like, "Kids…"
"Okay, it's safe to say I am now in your mum's bad books because of you," Sirius told me, as he began ringing out his dripping shirt.
I sniggered, "Terribly sorry uncle Sirius."
"Oi! Didn't we decide that sounded stupid?" Sirius demanded, the amusement evident in his voice.
I shrugged, "We did. But it's you who owns the name. Not me."
"Oh you're good…" Sirius grinned at me and headed for the door. "I'll check on you in about fifteen minutes. Be ready, or be square."
"Square?" I sniggered. "You do know that doesn't rhyme?"
"You are too like your mum for your own good," Sirius pretended to glare at me.
"I do try," I smiled sweetly.
"Right! Everyone line up!" Sirius called from the fireplace.
"Have you got everything Ly?" Mum asked me as she adjusted her jacket and threw her handbag over her shoulder.
"Yah…" I mumbled, not paying attention.
"Right, Bertha will be over in a couple of minutes."
"Wha?" I asked, dazed.
"Bertha's sister is getting married in two weeks so Bertha has talked to Dumbledore, and has organised for Josh to be excused from school for the wedding. He's meeting us at Diagon Alley to get some nice dress robes," Mum told me, her eyes dancing at the mention of Josh.
"Oh right," I replied, not really caring.
"You know, we haven't seen Josh in two years," mum told me conversationally, as though I didn't know that Josh had stayed the whole of last summer at a friend's house instead of coming home. That summer had been so quiet.
"Lyra?"
"Yah?" I turned to look at her as I heard a knock on the front door, which Sirius went to answer.
"Are you wearing eyeliner?" I blushed and shifted my weight from foot to foot sheepishly, determined not to look at mum. Mum beamed at me and then engulfed me in a hug, "My baby's finally becoming a woman!"
"Mum! Get off me!" I wrinkled my nose, mum stuck her tongue out at me and I stuck mine out at her as well.
"Since when do you wear eyeliner?" Mum sneered at me.
"Since…" I blushed and looked at the floor.
"Since?"
"Well…" I began. "I have Sirius' eyes, well, dad's eyes. And I've never really noticed them before. They're actually quite nice. So I borrowed some of your eyeliner, you know that charcoal stuff?" Mum nodded. "Well I tried it on to see if it would make my eyes more noticeable. But I don't think it looks nice."
"Rubbish my little duckling," Mum cooed, stroking my hair and acting as though Christmas had come early. "You look gorgeous. Josh will think so too."
I swatted her arm and straightened out my yellow halter neck top, feeling suddenly aware of myself. "I think I'll go get a jacket," I mumbled as I bolted upstairs before mum could protest.
I sighed happily as I descended the stairs, securing my denim jacket over my shoulders and grinning at mum's annoyed expression. "You know I was just about to comment on how girly you looked before you ruined your look," she told me sourly and helped straighten out my jacket.
"Why thank you mother," I grinned. "And the jacket doesn't ruin the outfit, denim goes with jeans, right?" I asked sarcastically.
"So Pettigrew set it all up?! I always saw him as an untrustworthy character I have to say but-Ah hello Amy! Lyra!" I spun round and grinned when I saw Mrs Green enter the living room with Sirius right behind her. "Charming young man you have here Amy, very nice."
I almost snorted out loud, but restrained myself when mum cast me a warning glance. "Thank you Bertha, he's my brother-in-law," mum told Mrs green, exchanging a look with Sirius, who smiled at her. I grinned despite myself when I realised that Sirius was right; mum did have him as a friend. And even though I was never there during their school days, I could tell by the way Sirius looked at mum that they had a history, and that he was thankful he knew my mum. I sighed happily; nothing could ruin these sorts of moments, I had the sudden urge to go get out my camera.
"Ahh, well that makes sense," Mrs Green smiled at me. "He has Lyra's eyes."
I grinned even wider.
"Right," Sirius rubbed his hands together. "Let's head, shall we?"
"You better transform now Sirius," Mum told Sirius, glancing at Mrs Green once before taking her place in the fire. I followed suit and mum put her arm around me to keep me close.
Sirius took a deep breath and closed his eyes tight, and just as I was about to witness him transform, mum had thrown the floo powder and I was thrown forward into another fireplace.
"Morning Miss Black."
My head snapped up and I grinned when I found myself in Flourish and Blotts book store. "Morning Archie," I waved at the young assistant behind the desk, who grinned back.
"Right," Mum adjusted her handbag again and dusted down her coat. "Oh Ly, you're all soot, clean yourself up before I help you."
I hurriedly pulled out my wand and cleaned off my clothes, thankful that mum gave me the option to do it myself. I heard the roar of the fire and turned back to the fireplace just in time to see Mrs Green and Snuffles appear.
"Come on Snuffles!" I patted my knees and made a face at Sirius, who wrinkled his nose and whined pathetically. "Come on boy! Let's go to the ice cream shop!"
At the mention of ice cream, Sirius leapt from Mrs Green's side and raced out the door. "Keep him under control, will you Ly?" Mum asked me with a snigger.
"Will do mum," I grinned. "I'll go get him, shall I meet you at the robes shop then?"
"Yes that will be fine," Mum smiled at me.
"Oh it's almost one o'clock!" Mrs Green exclaimed with a grin. "Josh should be arriving right about now."
I gulped and headed for the door before mum could haul me back.
"Snuffles!" I cupped my hands about my mouth and shouted down the main street, no with no luck. "Snuffles! You get back here of there will be no desert for you tonight!"
I heard a bark behind me and just as I turned round Sirius tried to jump on me. I gave him a stern face and he seemed to stop mid-leap. "That's better," I grinned approvingly at him, and he barked happily. "Now come on, we'll go to the ice cream shop last, mum wants us at the robes shops just now."
Snuffles whined, making me wince. "Don't give me that look!" I warned. "Come on."
I ruffled Snuffle's furry head and started walking towards the robes shop, feeling dread take over my body. I gulped as I pushed open the door and the bell rang merrily from above me, giving me a fright.
I felt Snuffles rub his head on my hand by my side and I smiled. I had no idea why I was so nervous; maybe it was because mum might make me try on something girly just for the sake of it. Or maybe I just knew that Josh would try something. After all, he had always been such an energetic kid, and I always grew tired of him after a while.
"Lyra! Over here!" I spotted mum by the changing rooms and I made to head over there, but the woman behind the counter cleared her throat and pointed to Snuffles.
"Go wait outside Snuffles, we won't be long," I told him sternly, and Snuffle whined. I raised an eyebrow at him and he barked at me. "Now would be nice," I told him, pretending to order him about, though I could tell he knew I was joking. Deciding to play along, Sirius stuck his tail between his legs and shuffled back outside, making me grin.
I nodded happily to the lady behind the counter and found mum and Mrs Green waiting patiently outside one of the changing rooms.
"Hello people," I clapped my hands behind my back and grinned down at mum and Mrs Green. They grinned up from their seats.
"Are you almost ready?!" Mrs Green called into the changing room.
I glanced quizzically from mum, to Mrs Green, to the closed changing room door, and then realisation hit me when a rather hoarse male voice called from within the changing rooms, "Just because I'm a guy doesn't mean I can get dressed at the speed of light mum!"
Mrs Green rolled her eyes and mouthed to mum, "Teenagers." Mum grinned, glancing at me.
I took a seat across from mum and Mrs Green and barely had enough time to collect myself when the changing room door swung open and a young man stepped out.
I almost gasped out loud, but restrained myself because mum would never let me live it down if I did. My eyes ran over the man before me and I felt my cheeks flush. Josh certainly had grown up since the last time I saw him. The hair that used to be an uninviting pale blonde was now a sandy brown that fell over his eyes naturally. Josh twitched his head to remove the hair from his bright amber eyes and I felt my knees go weak when he locked eyes with me and smiled slightly.
He nodded slightly at me, "Hello."
"……….Wha? Oh, hello…" I felt my face flush even more when I realised I had been staring non-stop at Josh, gaping, and had failed to hide my amazement. This definitely was not the Josh I knew from two summers ago. Two summers ago he had been lanky and skinny, and had never attracted my attention, but this Josh… I liked this Josh.
"What do you think of these Amy?" Mrs Green asked mum, knocking me out of my trance.
"Hmm," Mum nodded approvingly. "I like them, the design is very nice, although I don't think green is quite your colour, Josh."
Josh shrugged, "Just tell me what to wear and as long as it's decent I'll give it a try."
I felt my lips curl into a small smile and I pretended to cough to hide my embarrassment. Finally recovering and ignoring mum's mischievous winks, I observed the robes Mrs Green had chosen for Josh. They certainly were nice. They reminded me of the Hogwarts uniform I saw a couple of students wear at the beginning of the year. The top coating clipped together at the front and billowed down to Josh's feet and the sleeves were rather baggy, giving a rather elegant air to him.
Fifteen minutes later Josh tried on another set of robes, these ones were able to be taken off, revealing a rather well fitted tunic underneath and normal silk trousers. As Josh spun slowly on the spot, rolling his eyes and saying he felt like a girl, I gaped at what looked like muscle stretching through the fabric of the tunic and I gulped. It seemed Josh had recently taken up Quidditch.
"Er…mum," I stammered, getting up from my seat and tearing my eyes away from Josh's muscular body. "I think Snuffles might be a bit lonely, so I'm…I'm going to…to go keep him company."
Mum sniggered at me, "Alright, why don't you take him to the ice cream shop? He's been looking forward to that all day. Once your finished you could come back because I don't think we'll be finished any time soon."
I nodded dumbly and headed for the door, but not before hearing mum suggest to Josh, "Why don't you go with her?"
I growled under my breath and glanced up the main street, looking for Sirius. I spotted him down an alley way just across the street, chasing pigeons. I called him over and he barked merrily, I could tell he was smiling.
I knelt down as Sirius bounded over to me, letting the wind whisk his long fur over his face and lolling his tongue out his gaping mouth. I smiled and ruffled the rub on his head, and smiled even more when Sirius licked my face.
"Fancy going to the ice cream shop now?" I asked him.
Sirius barked, almost enthusiastically.
"Okay then, come on," I got to my feet and adjusted my bag on my shoulder and started walking towards the ice cream shop, with Sirius on my heels.
"Lyra!" I spun round and felt my heart speed up when I spotted Josh shutting the door to the robes shop and running after me. He grinned at me and fixed the satchel he had over his shoulder, "Hello stranger."
My heart fluttered and I stifled a sigh, "Hello."
"Mind if I come along too?" He asked delicately, as though he expected my answer to be no.
I glanced down to Sirius, who was glancing from Josh to me, a familiar twinkle in his eyes. "Er, yeah sure," I smiled and continued walking, Sirius trotting happily on my left and Josh sauntering on my right, his hands deep in his pockets and his hair falling over his eyes again.
"So, how've you been?" He asked me, trying to strike up conversation.
I shrugged, "Nothing much, mum's got me studying non-stop for my N.E.W.T.S and I can barely find time to just sit and realise that I'll be moving out in about a year."
"I know what you mean," Josh nodded. "Although I've been at Hogwarts for seven years and all I want to do is make up that time at home with mum; I've missed so much since being away. I mean look at you!" I looked down on myself, noticing Josh doing the same. "You're…" he struggled to find the words and I smiled. "You're all grown up," he smiled down at me and I noticed just how tall he was, almost a head taller. "You're not that scrawny little tomboy, who used to throw mud at me when I tried to talk."
I didn't know if he was trying to make me feel guilty, but I certainly didn't feel that guilty. Maybe just a bit. "Sorry," I laughed. "But you have to admit that when you continuously chased after me, declaring your undying love for me, I am entitled to get a bit pissed off."
Sirius barked from beside me and I glanced down at him, giving him a questionable look. I turned back to Josh, who was blushing slightly and I felt my knees go weak.
"Well, I was just a kid," he tried to explain. "And you can't blame a guy for trying."
I smiled slightly.
Josh held the door to the ice cream shop open for me and I grinned at him. I looked down at Sirius and said, "I'll just go get you an ice cream then come back, okay?" he barked in reply.
"Wow," Josh nodded in approval. "He's well trained." I almost laughed. "How long have you had him? I don't remember you having a dog."
"Oh, just last month," I said lightly.
"Ah right," Josh turned to the pretty blonde behind the counter, whom I noticed was batting her lashes and swooning at Josh, making my blood boil. "Can I have a small vanilla cone and a large chocolate cone please," He asked the woman nicely, making her sigh pathetically.
"How did you know I wanted a large chocolate cone?" I raised an eyebrow at him.
Josh grinned mischievously, "You always got that when we were kids. I hope it hasn't changed since I last saw you?" I shook my head and he smiled again.
Josh reached into his back pocket and pulled out five galleons to pay for the ice cream and I swatted his arm, "Don't think you're paying for me!" I warned him, "I can pay for myself."
"I know," Josh smiled kindly at me and I felt my knees go again. Before I could do anything to stop him, Josh gave the woman the money, I mentally noted how the woman glared at me, and he handed me my cone. "Just eat the cone, Ly," Josh told me, taking my arm and steering me outside, and I could do nothing but let him take me.