"Are you getting in, girlie?" the cabbie asked a stunned Hermione, who was unable to move.
Hermione looked from the taxi to the tail light as it sped around the corner. It would be best for her to leave, but she was rooted to the spot.
"You're going to owe money if I have to sit here much longer."
"Get lost," Hermione grumbled. "Keep the damn money." She stormed back into the bar, straight to the counter and ordered herself two shots, which she downed before the others noticed she was back.
"Is something wrong?" Patsy appeared inside her.
"Sirius..." Hermione muttered, but she didn't say anything after that. What was the point in explaining the non-relationship to a person who was mostly a stranger?
Patsy ordered a round of something weaker and passed a Butterbeer to Hermione, who took it with a small smile of thanks. "Fight often?" she pried slightly.
"He's Sirius Bloody Black," Hermione rolled her eyes. "The man's a walking argument."
"Many men are," she smiled sadly, casting a glance over her shoulder at Troy.
"Sometimes I wonder why I even bother," she muttered glumly.
"Because you're in love."
Hermione's head shot up.
"It's obvious. The way you smile when he looks at you, how you keep pressing yourself to him, anybody could read that you're absolutely crazy about him from across the room. And it's not difficult to see he feels the same way about you."
"Really?"
She raised an eyebrow. "You can't tell me this is all news to you?"
Hermione shrugged. "We haven't really been together all that long. I guess I didn't really think of it as into the 'crazy about each other' stage quite yet."
"If you didn't realize it yet, he might not have realized it yet. But the nice thing about that kind of love is that they usually come back begging forgiveness."
Hermione sighed. She wasn't sure she wanted forgiveness. There wasn't a relationship, she reminded herself. For whatever reason Sirius had wanted to make it look like there was one, but that didn't magically make a romance happen. She needed to get away from him. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that spending too much time around Sirius Black was a bad idea.
"I need to go home," she said, standing. She was a little drunk, but still perfectly capable of finding a taxi. Or Apparating to a spot near the hotel.
"I'll take you there," Patsy smiled nicely.
"Oh, you don't have to."
"I want to," she shrugged. "I'll make sure you get there OK, then I'll Apparate right back here."
Hermione smiled at the other witch. "I'm going to have to come back here," she said. "You're a very nice person."
Patsy almost blushed. "I can't believe Hermione Granger thinks I'm worth hanging around."
"Stop. I'm just a normal person."
"I know, I know. You're a normal, slightly drunk person. Let's get you home."
The bike rumbled down darkened street with little regard for those living nearby. He concentrated hard on following every traffic law he could find a sign for, trying to keep his mind from what he had just done.
But red lights proved to be his downfall, as every time his feet hit the ground as he waited permission to proceed his mind wandered back to the club. What in the world came over me? he thought. I wanted to kiss her, and I did. She couldn't possibly feel the same way about me that I do about her.
And yet she hadn't pulled away from him, he had to break the kiss. She hadn't acted shocked and stayed frozen, she had participated enthusiastically, if not nervously. And she had been enjoying the attention he was giving her all night. He could smell her becoming excited. And this troubled him more than anything. She was young, too young for him. As smart as she was, she had yet to learn to stay away from men like him.
Why did I do it in the first place? he asked himself. What possessed me to sit her on my lap? The easy answer was because he didn't trust Troy, and he wanted to give the illusion that there was a relationship so he would leave Hermione alone, but this excuse fell apart with any amount of thought. All he would have to do would be to signal Hermione, to pull her aside and mention it, to whisper it to her quickly, and she was smart enough to know better. But he had become possessive. He had claimed Hermione as his, and she seemed turned on by the idea.
He needed to get his head back on straight. He needed to act on his animal instincts. If he could spend some time with a woman then he might not feel the emotions he was having towards Hermione. It would be best for both of them if he could control himself more around her.
He circled around blocks for a couple hours before he settled on a place. A small billiards hall and bar that looked half full and had several groups of women around his age sitting in tables, looking hungrily at the men. He parked the bike out front, and this immediately got the attention of three women sitting by one of the dingy windows. He put his helmet on his bike and, using his coat to cover his wand, cast a quick protective charm. He sauntered in, turning the heads of a couple more women sitting at the bar. He found a stool and ordered another beer.
"Hey, stranger" a bleach blonde woman who looked to be in her mid thirties came and sat next to him. He looked her over. She wore clothes more common for teenagers, jeans slung too low on her hips, a jean jacket, and a t-shirt stretched tight over her chest. But still one of the more attractive women in the bar.
"Hello," he answered, flashing her a quick smile.
"Tourist?" she asked.
He nodded.
"Where are you from?"
"London."
"What do you do?"
"Great thing about being a grownup, you never have to do anything."
She raised an eyebrow. "What brings you to Brisbane?"
"I needed to get away."
"You're not much of a talker, are you?"
"You can say my talents are elsewhere," he smirked. That did the trick. She was now completely interested in him. Still got it, he told himself.
"My name is Leslie," she extended her hand, which he shook once before picking up his beer to take a drink.
"Sirius," he responded.
"That is an interesting name. Where did your parents dig that one up?"
He shrugged. "Never bothered to ask."
"So, is that your bike out front?"
"Sure is."
She eyed him hungrily. He smiled to himself. He could probably take her right now and she wouldn't object. She scooted her stool closer to him, touched his arm, and batted her eyes at him. "Care to take a lady for a ride?" she asked in what was supposed to sound like a sultry voice.
He made a motion to get up and lead her out, but something stopped him. In a group of young people walking in was a mane of bushy brown hair. His heart leapt to his throat in excitement, until he realized that the hair didn't belong to Hermione. But if she could cause that sort of reaction just by the thought of her, he realized he was making a big mistake. He needed to talk to Hermione. Now.
She opened the door and flung her purse across the room in anger. Once Patsy had left her outside the hotel the emotions had come flooding back. How dare he play her like that! How dare he kiss her and run out! She went to her room and started gathering her clothes.
She looked at the clock and her thoughts of leaving to find her parents to stay with them rushed out the window. It was nearing one in the morning, her parents, never a pair to stay up late, would be long asleep by now. Damn.
She decided to leave the packing until morning, and she laid on the bed. She quickly cast a silencing charm and an imperturbable charm on the door and placed her wand on the side table. She sat in the lounger and closed her eyes. How stupid was she, thinking that anything Sirius was doing was anything more than Sirius being Sirius.
She had liked the kiss. She had liked the attention leading up to the kiss, but she wasn't expecting Sirius to actually touch his lips to hers. And, as cliché as it sounded coming from a witch, it had felt magical. Much different than the kiss that she and Ron had shared. That kiss felt mechanical, almost like they were players on some sort of stage and the kiss was part of the script. There were no sparks behind it, but she had attributed it to fatigue and the worry of the looming battle.
I'm a fool, she thought gloomily. Why did I ever think Sirius Black would want me?
She laid the game plan out in her head. The next day she would spend some time to herself. She'd get out, have lunch with herself, do some shopping as she had planned, and when the dental office closed she'd follow her parents back to their house and lift the spells on them. Hopefully they'd have a room she could stay in, her mother was never one to go without a guest room, and she could spend the rest of her vacation staying with them. After explaining what had happened, of course.
She needed to wind down, so she picked up the remote and turned on the television. Instead of watching the screen she watched the dancing shadows the light cast upon the walls. She didn't know how long she stared at the flickering figures before sleep finally overcame her.
Please leave a review. I'm really sorry about him storming off last chapter! Hopefully I started making up for it.
