Thanks for the reviews and alerts!!! I'm glad everyone liked it! Now to get started…..
I have to say I like this chapter for the most part.
Cloned grey eyes stared back to the matching pools of slate grey from the reflective glass. Fingers twisted in the worn fabric of her dark cloak that hung from her shoulders as her eyes drank in her appearance from the mirror that she stood before in a haunting silence as she traced the scars and burns that stained her once flawless skin. Standing unbelievably short at 5' 3" didn't give her much skin but who was she to complain? Sure she was short but that just meant she was more agile and flexible to out maneuver spells. Smaller target too… But her positive outlook on her height hit the inevitable road block there and she only shook her head at her unsolvable dilema. Shame and embarrassment stripped at her pride though she held tight to it, repeating that she didn't regret refusing the Dark Lord; she wouldn't lose her pride to the Death Eaters.
Blinking slowly she looked up to meet her own reflection, not focusing on the small details but to see her naked form with only her cloak, bra, and a pair of boy shorts keeping her hidden. Behind her hanging over the top of the shower was her soaked shirt and pants that she had drying from when she had washed them while she took the second shower that day. Her darkened hair clung in wet waves, soaking her cloak till it clung to her back like a second layer of skin. The heat powdered her cheeks with a warm blush seemingly adding an innocent sight though Milo only scowled coldly at her reflection just as her dark mark seared against her skin for the third time that hour; making her ground her teeth together with her knuckles burning white.
Voldemort wasn't pleased over something—that much was for certain. A wry smile broke her lips. She had thought about letting the Order know of Voldemort's activity but immediately threw that idea to the back corner of her mind. It was nearly 8pm and she had yet to eat or talk to anyone other then the intrusion of the angry mob of teens and the very quiet bogart in the drawer… The latter wasn't much of an option. If she was indeed a prisoner, she had no desire of giving them anything free… Information came with a price, whether it be in the form of a hot cup of coffee or until they stopped ignoring her.
With her bandaged hand unraveling from her cloak, she traced a scar just below her right ribcage where a pale "M" stood out from the effects of a dagger. The feeling of warm vile rose to her throat from the memory of Lucius digging his blade across her flesh while she was bound to the tree.
"Malfoy," spitefully rolled from her lips… The damn man had branded her with his damn letter. She could still feel the crawling against her skin even more importantly her lips where he had dared to crash his upon hers one last time before she lost consciousness. All that was needed was a simple swipe of her wand to erase all of the scars… but being wandless served no purpose.
With the burn of her forearm slowly bleeding away, she lowered her cloak from her shoulders but still leaving it around her elbows while she turned to peer at her back. Only a few small burns were visible but nothing that a decent tan could cover up. Before she could search more, there was a knock at the door followed by a muffled "Milo", making her jump before shrugging her cloak back on hastily. She wasted no time running into her room before making a dive for her bed to pick up a blanket in hopes of covering herself better, but no sooner did she reach her bedside did the door open. Gasping she turned her back to the intruder and wrapped her cloak tightly around her still damp body.
Sirius meandered inside in a way that only Sirius Black could with an air of casual calm and an attractive aura rolling off of him under his high confidence. "Ahh," he chuckled. "I see they locked you in," he said while examining the door with his free hand, letting it swing back and forth like a cat and a ball of yarn before he finally shut it behind him.
Milo only scoffed bitterly. "Don't be thick. I locked them out so I could spend quality time with my good ol' Bogart friend." Her tone was low as she tried to push her previous thoughts away though she underestimated Sirius's clever mind due to him catching the falsity of her voice and how it shook in the slightest. Not to mention that as she glanced over her shoulder at him he caught sight of a fine blush and red eyes. A flash of concern came over his face but it was gone before she finally turned around to face him with her cloak buttoned enough to hide her scarred torso and underwear but still she failed in finishing as she unintentionally gave him a view of the top of her black bra and her bare legs. He tried to suppress a grin while he glanced at her up and down, taking note of how her buttons were unmatched and sloppy from her haste.
All too aware of the man's eyes, her blush darkened and she crossed her arms over her chest self consciously as if to shield his view of her. Milo opened her mouth to ask what he was there for but her voice lodged in her throat as her eyes landed on the two plates of food in his hands. Blinking all irritation away she lowered her arms while pointing to the plates. "Is that for me?"
Blinking himself, Sirius looked to the plates where she pointed before he smirked. "Figured you were hungry." Looking back to see her, he jumped in surprise to see that she was now right in front of him instead of her place on the other side of the room. "Er…," he started but she placed a hand on one plate, quietly asking for it which after a pause he released.
"Thanks," she muttered and managed a grin before walking back to the bed. It was only a few steps away that she heard an echo of following foot falls only to mean that Sirius wasn't going to leave like she had thought; or better yet, hoped. Sighing she spun on her heels and stopped right in front of him where he merely looked down upon her with a curious raise of his brow.
"Problem?"
"Why are you still in here? Get out." She said shortly.
"It's my house," he only replied lazily with a twitch of the corner of his lips.
Milo only narrowed her eyes at him refusing to look away all while he stared back. It wasn't until now that Sirius actually noticed just how short she was. Nothing that bothered him at all… but only the thought of the Death Eaters lined in black cloaks and her being one-if not- the smallest of them… It must have been a sight, though she was taller then Pettigrew. The image itself made a short chuckle escape him before it turned to full bark of laughter. Annoyance was washed away by confusion as Sirius walked around her, still laughing, while helping himself on her bed with his plate on his lap.
"What? Why are you laughing," she questioned as she turned to face him with her glare weakening from her perplexity.
"Ah, nothing. It's nothing," he waved off indifferently.
Milo didn't look convinced which was evident in her scowl. What was with him? When she had wanted to not be ignored, this was the last person she would have thought to be her "company". She didn't know much about Sirius Black except that she had met his brother Regulus a total of four times. Not much before he was killed. And from the constant boasting of Bellatrix, Sirius had disgraced his family by betraying their pure-blooded ways and befriending muggle borns and half breeds; not that she was one to judge. No, she wouldn't judge. She was merely pessimistic, was all. Keeping a negative outlook when she was wandless and in a former enemy's house would keep the surprise to a minimal. Seeing as he may have some strange vendetta against purebloods and that she was at his mercy didn't set well. For all she knew this "nice-guy" act could just be for her to lower her guard before he could embarrass her. Not something she was willing to take a risk on, much less fall for.
Sirius was watching Milo the entire time as she still stood in the middle of the room and watched him with distant eyes; the same look that Remus got whenever he was thinking deeply. While raising the fork to his mouth, he paused before it reached his lips and lowered his hand slowly. "Are you plotting my death?" Sirius asked skeptically.
Milo blinked and shook her thoughts away. "Excuse me?"
"If I didn't know any better I'd say you were more interested it eating me then what's on your plate. What were you thinking?"
Milo glared. Yes, he was obviously going for the "nice-guy" act. "Nothing," she brushed off and walked to the opposite side of the room before pulling the old rustic iron chair from the corner and into the center of the floor. The scratching was low as the four legs rubbed against the wooden floorboards until she reached a safe enough distance between Sirius and the bathroom incase she decided she grew tired of his company. Always have a backup plan. Especially when wandless. Perhaps she should make a list of rules…. Well an escape route was number one on her list.
"Why are you sitting way over there for?" he asked in mock hurt though his interest shone through his masquerade. "You know, I don't bite. I'm actually a lovely and well behaved dog when I want to be."
Milo cocked her head and stared, not sure what he meant by that. Why was he referring himself as a dog? Was that supposed to be a turn on? Well considering who she was normally with as company, it wasn't far off, she supposed. "Get over yourself," she said while taking a bite of food and swallowing. "I'm sure you wouldn't want to really eat in the presence of a Death Eater anyway." So there must be a reason for him being here then, she confirmed.
But Sirius only tossed his head back and laughed, making Milo aware of just how deep and lyrical his voice really was. "Whatever Molly or anyone else has said, I don't believe you truly are loyal to your old master," he informed after his laughter died down and he scooped some potatoes into his mouth.
Milo wasn't sure what to say except to furrow her brows. "What…what do you mean by that?"
"Because people can change and it takes a particular someone to do it." There was a pause and his humor dropped to a more serious appearance. "Besides you would be a completely brainless fool to still be loyal after all that had happened to you. I guess it wouldn't be impossible," he shrugged. "You could have Stockholm's syndrome I suppose."
"I wasn't abducted," she said quietly with a dry glare. "I just didn't know what I was getting into when I joined." She didn't deny that she was loyal to the Dark Lord… She wanted to find Sirius's angle on his questionings before she honestly admitted to anything.
A small and short silence settled over them but Milo only continued to eat dispassionately, trying to keep her mask strong and unmoving. After years of practice with the Death Eaters it wasn't that hard. But even so, she could feel her resolve to ignore Sirius dissipate as the weight of his eyes on her continued to burn hotter.
"So that would mean you have a blood feud against muggle borns? For some reason I find that hard to believe."
His tone was calm but stern nonetheless. Finally she looked up to meet his dark irises where she held it with her own grey. "Correct that I don't have a biased opinion on blood, but that still wouldn't mean that I was kidnapped and forced to join. Let's be honest here and say I was naive. I was under the impression that the Dark Lord wasn't going to last long when he was as weak has he had been before Dumbledore was killed."
"So why join at all?"
"What do you plan to do with me?"
Sirius was caught off guard by her question but didn't let it last while he shrugged with a smirk while he scrapped the food around on his plate. "Can't say for sure. Depends on where your loyalties lie now before we can make a full decision."
"That's hopeful thinking, I suppose. And just what will happen when I prove where I stand? You planning on keeping a tight leash on me?" she asked bitterly but not accusingly.
It was then that Sirius understood how she felt. When she was out of the room the night before she was surprisingly pleasant. But now her temper kept her shut off to his advances…. And he couldn't have that. She was acting like he had when he was stuck in this wretched house in hiding and forbidden to leave. This little fox wasn't even close to being as tamed and adaptive as Sirius was, though tame was an overstatement. Still it was useful and he knew that if they wanted to get any information out of her and to earn her trust, they would need to start trusting her a little as well. But how to do it would be the problem. Remus would be against the idea as well as Tonks. Same with everyone else. The only one who would be for it would be……….. Er……… Dumbledore; the old bloke trusted fairly easily, but being six feet under didn't help anyone. Not even Harry would be for it. This said a lot for the recklessness of the situation at hand and just where his over active mind was going. Too bad this was HIS house and HE made the rules… he thought evilly.
Seeing his strange grin curl his lips while he looked at her through his bangs, made a strange heat enter her belly that she really didn't like. Never had she felt it before and this wasn't something she wanted to feel on a regular basis. Narrowing her gunmetal eyes at him suspiciously, she glanced quickly at her plate to see that she had eaten everything except for what she assumed to be pork. She didn't care much for pork unless it was bacon… Sighing she stood up and walked to set the plate down on the dresser before turning back to look at Siruis who hadn't taken his eyes off of her. "Well," she started and wrapped her arms over her chest. "You know where the door is when you are done."
Without waiting for a word, she walked back into the bathroom and closed the door lightly, not bothering to lock it. Surely he wouldn't dare open the door, though if he did then a locked door wouldn't stop him when a simple Alohamora would open it to her. She could only hope it didn't come to that and he would just get bored with her and leave.
Sirius though only watched her retreating back until the door shut before he pushed off the bed and set his plate next to hers. Coast was clear now to bring in the bags. Why he even wasted his time buying her clothes was beyond him but he wasn't the type of man to think these things through. If something felt right, he gripped that thought tight and ran with it. Only Remus could admit to that much of Sirius's behavior. But that didn't stop the inkling of wonder as to why he was doing this, for her no less. He hardly met her but she had caught his interest in a way that no one else had. She was hard to figure out and perhaps he held on to that because she reminded him of his brother so much. It was a theory.
After opening the front door and pulling in the three bags he left in the hallway, he walked back in and shut the door only to set the bags of clothes onto the bed. He stood there for a moment, letting his eyes wonder from the bags to the bathroom door then back again. With his hands digging deep into his pockets, he ambled over to the closed door and set his ear against it. There was only a sound of a drawer opening and closing just over the mumbling under her breath. Something about "unbelievable man" and "Did they think she was a fool".
With a smirk pulling at his lips, he pulled his hands from his pockets and opened the door to see Milo's back to him as she set something under the counter. With a smug grin now evident he walked up to stand behind her, letting his eyes take in the full view of her round backside and toned legs. But his view was cut off when she straightened up to face the mirror when suddenly a gasp left her at the sight of Sirius standing behind her. "What the hell, Black?!" she snapped and spun to face him only to see that he was closer then she had realized.
Sirius only chuckled to her apprehension and took the time to study her flushed figure. Whatever punishment was to come for his curious barging in was worth it to see that she had unbuttoned her cloak that showed the view he had been wishing to see. Black under wear and matching bra was his weakness…. But even so the sight of the many small scars and lacerations caught his attention just long enough for him to realize that there was more then just one reason why she hid herself from him. Almost reading his thoughts and seeing his smile fade the slightest when his eyes landed on her scars, she blushed in embarrassment and took a step back until she couldn't any longer with the counter hitting her backside. "Apparently I was right. You do lack manners like your house elf pet."
"Why do you feel the need to compare me to that over grown rat?" he asked with a raise of his brow. "You're not being very nice."
"At this point I don't give a damn. I'm not the one barging into bathrooms without having the courteously to bloody knock," she leered while he took this as a challenge and stepped closer to her, taking in her heart shaped face and stunning grey eyes. Milo reached a hand behind her searching for the metal hair comb until her fingers curled around it and she pulled it to her back. Sirius didn't tear his gaze away though he stopped inches from her. He had to admit that she was beautiful. Not stunningly but quietly so. Almost reserved though her temperament seemed to be anything but.
"Maybe you should. You forget whose care you are in."
"Bull shit—Hey!" Sirius had suddenly reached around her with one arm and pulled the comb from her hands. The sweet smell of coffee was thick on him and for only a split second, Milo had forgotten she was angry. Damn it--she needed her coffee!
"Keep your voice down." He paused as his smirk broadened to a wide grin while he looked to her then to the comb he had taken from her. "You should try not to be so hostile."
"Piss off."
"Oh, that reminds me," Sirius muttered more to himself then to Milo while he took a step back, ignoring her outburst. She had to admit that he wasn't disrespectful of her personal space. Yes, he barged in and openly stared at her but at least he kept his distance whenever she showed that she was clearly uncomfortable. "I heard you took care of that Bogart with a lamp. Just how does one go about doing that without getting seriously hurt?"
Her left eye twitched in the slightest while she stared at Sirius in disbelief. "Are you mental?"
"To some that is a rhetorical question," he grinned but didn't continue as he watched to see what she would do next.
"Give me that comb and I'll show you first hand. And if you don't understand the first time, then don't worry. I'll be more then happy to show you again."
"Oh?" he asked with a raise of his brow. That sounded like a challenge. Apparently this little fox was going to stay resistant. No matter. He liked a good chase. "I don't think you have what it takes."
"Arrogant prick," she muttered as he leaned closer to her, dipping his head to her ear as her breathing hitched in her throat.
"I have a present for you in your room," he whispered secretly and leaned back to look at her once again respecting her enough to give her enough space. "Don't go to sleep tonight. I'll be coming here again around 11pm." And with his last words uttered and a wink, he Apparated away in a crack, leaving her breathing a sigh of relief.
Don't go to sleep? Oh she intended to do just that in spite of him, she smirked evilly and walked towards her bed room. Stubborn man and his stupid cunning mouth. It would be the death of him.
She didn't make it four feet inside her room when Milo stopped as she spotted the three bags of…something on the sheets. With her brows drawn together suspiciously, she carefully stalked towards the first bag and peaked in to see… clothes? "Hmm," she hummed and pulled the bag closer while fishing a deep red halter top with faded, washed out blue jeans. Interesting… After a few minutes of digging through her bags, she had counted four t-shirts, one tank-top, three jeans, one halter top, and a couple new pairs of boy shorts, which at first she was more then grateful for… until the thought of whyhe bought those came to mind. Obviously they were a favorite in his book; he was a man after all and when he caught an eye full of what she was wearing, then she had found the source of his glee.
"Bastard," she mumbled and tossed the clothes back into their respectable bags before setting them at the foot of her bed. Pulling her hair into a loose thick braid while crawling onto the creaking mattress, she lay comfortable and snuggled under the covers with only a new blue t-shirt and her orange boy shorts on.
"Damn man."
Sirius stepped off the last of the stairs, landing on the living room threshold. A small frown was evident on his lips and completed with half lidded eyes and a crease across his forehead. The woman was a new discovery to him. To be honest, he had suspected her to be an unintelligible, spoiled pureblood that pushed Voldemort's buttons earning her death. That was until Remus told him of her being tortured and was confirmed that his previous expectations were false when she explained the situation herself the night before. The scars were unexpected. Even when the sounds that she had, surely Remus would have healed her completely… Then again she could have killed Remus's new family or she could have been the one to kill Tonk's father… Even Remus being as forgiving as everyone associated with him had a limit on when to say enough. But this only brought questions to his own mind. Why did he care about the woman? Perhaps curiosity? Or maybe he was bored around the house and she was now a new interest? Shrugging it off, he went back to the kitchen and around the table he set his plates into the sink.
"So? How was it?" Tonks asked as she came up behind Sirius.
He turned around and leaned against the counter with hands stuffed inside his pockets and one leg crossed over the other. "Meh," he shrugged then answered in matter-of-fact like. "She has teeth."
An eyebrow rose. "I'm assuming you are talking about her attitude?"
"What else? I am fully aware that she has actual teeth," he teased.
"So it didn't go well?"
"Some could say she was borderline bitch, but I'm not saying that it was her fault," he added hastily at the sudden drop of her smile. "She's been locked in that room all day and doesn't have any idea what we are going to do to her. You know how I was the last time I was at this blasted house and couldn't go anywhere."
"Maybe," Tonks said slowly. "But maybe she is acting like that as a defense mechanism." After only getting a blank stare she continued. "She was pleasant enough yesterday and even Kingsley had come to respect her. I don't think she's as bad as the others say but maybe she is dangerous to us because she doesn't trust us. Look at who she grew up with. I don't think trust was something she knew or came useful to her…. If you're following."
Before Sirius could comment, Remus stepped inside with a warm smile. "Kids are upstairs and Teddy is asleep. I got an owl a little while ago and Molly and Arthur will be stopping by in two days. Also at the end of the week, we have scheduled a meeting here with the Order. Hopefully we'll have some information from Ashten by then." He didn't look hopeful.
Sirius pursed his lips together and shook his head. "Molly won't be pleased. Not when she sees the woman still here."
"Yes," Remus sighed with his shoulders slumping in defeat. "But we'll cross that bridge when we get there."
"Stop it, you two, won't you? I'm sure Molly won't take it that hard when Ashten tells us something."
"And how do you plan on getting information from her?"
"We could force it out of her but I don't think any of us are willing to do that," she paused to ponder. "Or we could trick her into telling us, but she is too smart for that."
Remus thought it over for a moment before an idea came to him. "I think the best way is to earn her trust and see where she is loyal to before we make any extreme decisions. But we should have one person…er… take care of her. That way she isn't exposed with different faces and personalities until she can trust us."
"Like taming a wild animal," Tonks mused more to herself then anyone else.
"Exactly. But we have to have some kind of information before Molly arrives."
"Leave it to me," Sirius piped in but he only got two blank eyes to look at him unconvinced. "Don't worry Mooney. I'll have that information before anyone else gets here and I'll do in a humane and safe way…" Pause. Quickly Sirius caught Remus's raised brow before he hastily added, "and without sexual harassment, which I am ashamed that I have to say that to you, Mooney."
"I am ashamed that I have to wait for you to admit it yourself, Padfoot."
Milo lay in her bed, arms wide on either side as she stared blankly into the ceiling. She couldn't sleep but seeing as she had taken naps off and on all day out of absolute boredom then it was clear that she wasn't going to fall into a deep slumber anytime soon. Damn. Her plan hadn't helped out and she wasn't sure what time it was. All she did know was that a few hours had passed and Sirius was going to be showing up here shortly. With a frustrated sigh, she rolled to her side to face the door hoping that it wouldn't open any time soon—
Knock-knock-knock…..
Milo's eyes widened before she shut them tight, while trying to level out her inhalation to even and deep breaths. If she pretended to be asleep then it would still be able to work…. Or so she hoped. Anything to keep him from coming in.
"Hey, Milo are you decent?" Pause. "Well I'm coming in anyway."
If Milo wasn't afraid of giving away her fake sleep then she would have rolled her eyes. Instead she opted to hold that urge off for a later time. God knew there was going to be plenty if she was going to continue to have visits from this man. The sound of the door opening told her that he was now in followed by the low rustle of clothes but there was a long pause. No more noise and no more movement. It started the mark of a few seconds that ticked by before she heard a sigh followed by the door closing shut.
He was gone? Milo hadn't expected it to work so fast…
After pondering the strange success of her plan, she decided not to open her eyes until she was sure he wasn't going to be opening the door again. Instead she relaxed and let out a slow breath. She didn't think that was actually going to work but she wasn't complaining. After a little longer, she had debated and resolute to open her eyes to the dark empty room…. Except it wasn't empty. As soon as her eyes open she got a view of a leather belt that hung crookedly off a pair of jeans and a blue station hoody matching the pair of cerulean eyes looking down at her with a knowing smile. "Good you aren't asleep," he said all too cheerfully for Milo who looked hesitant at him through wide grey eyes.
"Er.. h-how long… I thought you left. Were you just watching me sleep?!"
Admitting that it was true that he had been watching her sleep was not a good way to start off… Instead he cleared his throat. "Not at all."
She wasn't convinced and the look was clear to Sirius who rolled his eyes. "Look I told you that you couldn't go to sleep so in all fairness I am innocent in all this."
"Not in the least."
"You have no faith in me?" he asked knowingly and leaned down till his face was inches from hers which made her stomach flip even through the dark room.
Her voice lodged into her throat but after years of practice she was able to force her question out. "What did you want that couldn't wait until tomorrow?"
Sirius straightened up. "You want to go for a walk? Or would you rather stay in this filthy room?"
Did she hear right? A walk? Well she would have to weigh her decision carefully and put everything into account such as consequences and what was behind this 'walk'… Ah-screw it…"Let's go."
A victorious grin curled his lips. "Alright well get out of bed."
"Er…."
"What?"
"Could you turn around? I don't have pants on…" she explained hesitantly.
"Hate to tell you this but I had a good view a few hours ago, soooo No…"
This earned him a dry glare though she couldn't add her anger to it. Not when she was going to go out of her room. Besides if he wanted a view then fine. He could get it. She knew how to play this game. With a crooked smirk, she stepped off the mattress with only her orange boy shorts and pulled a pair of jeans from the bag before shrugging them on. Sirius watched with a growing smile until the orange disappeared behind the denim completely. "Let's go," she repeated.
"Pushy are we?" He didn't wait for a reply as he turned and walked out the door with her in tow.
Down the hall they went and around the corner in a comfortable silence until they reached the bend where Milo was all too aware of. Purposely she stepped closer to Sirius, bracing herself incase the portrait came alive with hissing threats and blood promises. Sirius sensed this but didn't say anything though he vaguely wondered what she would do if the portrait did wake up…. Perhaps grab onto him? That was a nice thought…
Instead of voicing this, he stomped on the urge and continued down the stair case and into the shrouded living room that was stale of life. Clearly everyone else was asleep, or so that is what she assumed. Seeing that Sirius was walking away, she hesitantly followed the familiar path to the kitchen where a single shaft of light shone through the doorway, showing the silhouettes of the furniture that she maneuvered around gracefully until she joined Sirius in the dinning room.
"Have a seat," he said as he disappeared into the kitchen and out of sight. Milo only watched his retreating back before turning to the table and pulling a seat out for herself. When he said a walk, she thought he meant something more then just downstairs. Then again she shouldn't complain, as she told herself, she was in fact appreciative that he let her out of the room. As she again let her eyes sweep the desolate table, the sweet and warm scent of cinnamon reached her in a captivating air….
"Midnight snack for the lady," Sirius greeted as he walked in with his wand out and a pair of cups and plate hovered in front of him. The dark haired man took a seat across from Milo while lowering his wand and in doing so, setting the plates and glasses down.
"Coffee and a freshly made cinnamon roll," Sirius smiled while stowing his wand into the safety of his pocket.
Milo was speechless. Oh how much she had wanted this. Looking up to meet cerulean blue watching her with interest, she smiled brightly and pulled the coffee to her lips, only breathing in the warm bitter smell before taking a much needed sip.
Sirius watched with a small smile but hid it behind his own glass as he took a sip of before starting on the icing layered roll. It was clear that she wasn't a morning person. And growing up with James had taught Sirius that coffee did wonders to a fairly temper mental person.
"Not bad, Black. You just keep surprising me."
"Yes, yes, I get that a lot. Unpredictable and everyone loves me." Sirius took a bite of his roll, letting it roll over his tongue with the sweet cinnamon dancing through his mouth.
"When I had said that I hadn't meant it to stroke your ego," she retorted in good nature but the insult was still there.
"I think that's the least you can do," he said after swallowing. "After all I did buy those clothes for you—"
Milo interrupted. "And I appreciate them, really, I do…" She turned her eyes to him and continued, "However there is more harm out of encouraging someone of your nature to continue acting rebellious."
"Rebellious?" Sirius asked with raised brows. "Oh…. You think I'm quite the rebel, do you?"
And here was the first of many more chances to roll her eyes while she pushed back the blush. "See? That's what I meant by encouraging you."
Sirius only smirked and leaned an elbow on the table top while sitting forward modestly though ignoring her blatant insults. "So what makes you think I'm such a sexy rebel?"
"Because if your friends knew I was out of the room then they would have your head on the wall with all your pets…." Pause….. She was forgetting something…… "And you aren't sexy," she added with skeptical eyes. That was a lie but she would sooner have her tongue cut out then to admit that, much less encourage him more so.
"I beg to differ—"
"And you would—"
"But," his smirk never faded. "I am aware that everyone here is fully asleep and will stay as such as long as you don't make any noise down the halls."
"Well that just goes to prove my point," she took another bite followed by the warm gulp of coffee.
"You are so much fun," he said quietly while quickly shoving a quite large amount of food into his own mouth before he could be questioned further about that comment.
And just like he thought she started. "What is that supposed to mean? I'm not your playmate, Black so don't get ahead of yourself. That is a warning and the only one you will be getting."
Oh this just opened a door he could not pass! Quickly he swallowed, ignoring the pain that entered his throat as he smirked arrogantly. "Would you like to be? It's fun for both sides and I hear the benefits are worth it…" he finished it with a wiggle of his brows.
Heat rose to her cheeks that she couldn't keep down followed by a twitch of her left eye. "I-you are such… I can't believe you would—"
"Is that a yes?"
Her face twisted to a mutinous glare. "No. It is a Hell no."
"Are you sure?
"Yes—I-I mean no." she quickly added but Sirius tossed his head back in a bark of laughter. "I said no. That doesn't count."
"It does too. You could have said something like 'correct' instead but you didn't."
Or 'can't you hear correctly? It was a simple no' she thought angrily to herself. This stupid man seemed to block her thoughts from reaching her mouth and left her answering things blindly. How was he able to do that? Damn him. He confused her greatly and she didn't do well confused. She had to have a full handle on things... Everything she needed to have thoroughly thought out and planned for whatever scenario arose. And this man, Sirius Black, was messing everything up!
The laughter died down and he shook his head. "Don't look at me like that. You're the one who fell for it."
"Shut up."
Sirius left it as that, knowing when not to push his guests, and turned back to his food, pleased nonetheless. She was entertaining and smart, something that told him that she would be a handful if her motive for being so arose. There was no doubt in his mind that if she truly desired to escape Grimmuald Place then she would succeed flawlessly, but what kept her here? Perhaps she knew there was no place to go and she would be killed on both sides of the war. That fact alone would keep even him in an obedience manner until he could finish a plan for AFTER the escape. But he was straying off the path now, wasn't he? He had brought her here for three simple reasons. 1) Trust-being the key thing to earn with her. 2) Getting information on Voldemort and 3)….. Well he wasn't quite sure what the third one was but at least he had the first two. Speaking of which, he needed to ask the wonderful questions…. "Now about the Death Eaters..."
"What do you want to know?" she asked with her head bowed and the mug of coffee in between her hands. Her plate was pushed aside with only a few pieces of dried crust on the porcelain white and her amber braid pulled over her shoulder.
"You are going to talk?" he confirmed in a casual voice. He didn't want this to turn into a serious conversation that would only make it awkward. That just wouldn't do.
Milo though looked up boldly, clearly irritated. "Why are you surprised? I never said that I wasn't going to tell the Order anything. I only said my knowledge is limited."
Sirius's face stayed neutral though he had the sudden strong urge to smack his palm to his forehead. Of course she said that she would help. Why would he or even the others think that she would refuse? She had told them about herself and even started to explain to Kingsley but they had jumped to conclusions before anything was set in stone. Well on the bright side he figured something out before Remus.
Seeing him ponder over what she had said, Milo took a relaxing sip of her coffee and exhaled slowly. She wasn't going to beat around the bush as some said. She liked to be blunt. Kept everything clear. "I want a deal."
Sirius perked at the sound of a deal and leaned an arm over the back of the chair with a leg folded over his other while he studied her thoughtfully. "A deal?" he asked with raised brows. "I don't think there's much that we can do for you there-"
"Just hear me out, will you?"
Stubborn grey eyes stared back at him, waiting before he sighed and nodded his head. "Alright go ahead."
"I don't care if you keep my wand—well I do but I'm not going to cry over it. I think you remember me telling you that the Death Eaters didn't know about the Dark Lord's plans until he called upon us, correct?" Sirius gave a curt nod. "As true as that is, I found a way earlier that would be of some use. Actually give you a very large advantage IF you are willing to sacrifice something in return. Remember that information comes with a price."
An advantage? Over Voldemort? That's exactly what they had needed! In all fairness this deal was sounding relatively perfect except for the fact that they would have to do something in return… "And what does the Order have to supply you, hmm? A free walk? A new start? Or maybe money?"
"Don't be ridiculous," she said with a wave of her hand. "I want to join the Order of the Phoenix. And I want to be treated as a bloody equal."
"A member? Are you serious?"
All he received as an answer was a passive stare, clearly firm in her decision and not going to budge.
"Nuh huh, not going to happen," he added with a shake of his head.
"Then your information is going to stay with me to my grave."
"You'll go to prison," he continued while sweeping his arm over the top of the chair and setting it onto the table while he leaned forward with a finger pointing right at her. "You'll go straight to Azkaban if you refuse to give us information and everyone will see to it that the only way you leave is by the Grim Reaper himself escourting you."
"New experience," she shrugged dispassionately before leaning forward in a silent challenge. "I welcome it."
If this wasn't such a serious topic he would have burst in laughter right then but is lips only thinned in a tight line. Remus did say he wanted the information… But he didn't say at what price. And for a Death Eater to join the Order was a complete joke. Then again Snape was—No. No that was different. Or at least after Harry learned the truth it was different. But until then Sirius despised the sniveling man and he knew that if she was to join--IF being the main word—then she would not have it easily by anyone except for the four adults who had talked to her. Even the teens hadn't seemed to take quite the liking to her either. This was just a crazy situation that he was even pondering it!
"Look," she continued after the tense silence was becoming too much for her. "I wouldn't lie to you. This information is valuable and not something that I can just tell you now and you get rid of me later."
"That makes no sense," he growled but his voice stayed level.
"Let me explain briefly and you decide what you want to do." She took a breath and leaned closer. "The Dark Mark will still activate as if I was part of the Death Eaters. That means that I will know where the Dark Lord will be located and how many of his followers will be present. If he is angry, I'll know by the amount of pain. If he is pleased there is a strange tingling and obviously he will be killing some one soon."
Sirius wasn't sure what to think. This would give them an advantage like never before. To know where Voldemort was and if he was going to kill, then that meant the death rates would be decreased and they would be able to hold him off from gaining any new ground in this war. "And in return, you want the freedom as the rest of the people have in this house as well as becoming a member?"
"Yes," she nodded. "I have no more connections to the Death Eaters except for the mark on my arm. No loyalties and no emotions whatsoever. There isn't any place for me to go without being killed and I would like some allies in this war. Not to mention that I have nothing against the Order except that I had to obey commands and nothing more. If you would have my loyalties then I would do anything I could to help with assignments and missions."
A smirk lit up Sirius's face with his eyes twinkling mischeviously. "Well I will have to discuss this with Remus and the others before a decision is made. First thing in the morning and I'll talk to him about it, deal?" He offered his hand across the table which she took with a small smile.
But the end of the relaxing discussions was nigh as a sudden screeching made both jump and release their hands. It shattered the silence ghostily and clapped through the stale air as the portrait came alive once more.
"Filthy Traitors dare to sleep in my house! I curse you all! Dine in Hell with your vile and retched nightmares! Half bloods, werewolves and vermin alike!"
"Shit!" Sirius cursed and stood from his seat, knocking his chair back before striding out to the living room in a quick trot. Hesitantly Milo followed closely behind him as they strode up the staircase taking two steps at a time.
"Mudbloods! Leave! The fools of you to enter and sleep in my house and befoul it with your depravity! Disguisting blood relations! This pureblood will send you to the fire pits of the Dark Lord!"
Finally they reached the top and after a few extra strides, they both found themselves in front of the portrait with the dusted, silk curtains sprawn open with a very pleased house elf holding the end with long boney fingers. Kreacher looked to the face of the perplexed woman then to the angry man in front of her who looked about ready to pounce on Kreacher at that given moment.
"The filth of my flesh and stain to this name! Be gone! Crawl to a hole and die!"
The thudding of many feet echoed down the other end of the hall just as Remus, Harry, Hermione, George, and Draco filed in one by one in front of the painting…. All coming to an abrutp halt and staring between Sirius, the portrait and Milo who stepped closer to her escourt as the screeching continued through the halls, ready to burst the wall into slivers of cracks.
All while a grinning Kreacher sent death glares straight at Sirius who glowered back with his own rage at the situation that he found himself in.
Haha what a wonderful little house elf. So evil, hm? Sneaky little prick. Anywho please review! It's appreciated and I am glad over this fic so far. I hope that everyone here likes it as well. Please let me know!
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