A/N Hey guys! Two chapters back-to-back!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Sirius woke up early the next day. Even though his left side was still smarting from the curse his mother had thrown at him, leaving Grimmauld Place had been the best decision of his life. He could smell fresh breakfast being cooked downstairs as he quickly got dressed. He wore slacks and a Beatles T Shirt, before knocking on James' door.

"Prongsy? You up yet? I'm dying for a spot of breakfast."

"Come in. I'm almost done."

His best friend was currently examining a tiny cut on his chin, most probably a nick he got while shaving.

"Honestly, Prongs. You are, hands down, the most clumsy guy I've met," he said, falling onto the bed lazily. "You'd think you'd be able to shave that non-existent stubble of yours without nicking yourself after 3 years of practice."

"Stuff it, Padfoot. Not everyone is blessed with 'casual elegance' like you," he snapped. Both of them paused and then burst out laughing, remembering how Florence Abernethy had used that particular phrase to describe him back in the Christmas break.

"True. Just hurry up and heal it, mate. I can smell the bacon. It's calling out to me and I don't like to keep my love waiting," he declared, dramatically.

James snorted. "You've never shown up for any date on time. All the girls were practically dropping like dead flies because you told them you wanted to be 'fashionably late'."

Sirius barked out a laugh at this and ruffled his friend's hair.

"You're such a dick, Pads. How do you manage to get so many girls?" asked James, mussing his hair up in the proper way.

"Hey! I didn't ask to be blessed with such good looks. You think its easy walking around with gorgeous hair, perfect cheekbones and brilliant teeth? Not to mention other departments," he finished with a smirk.

"You're such a dog, mate," said James, punching him in the shoulder.

"You'd know."

…

"We're heading out, Mum," called James, as he and Sirius walked out of the house.

"Where do you want to go?" said Sirius, stifling a yawn. He honestly just wanted to lay about after such a divine breakfast.

"Over to good ol' Charlie's," he said with a grin. Charles Logan was a famous and somewhat reclusive broom maker who lived in Godric's Hollow. He was one of the last manufacturers who actually made each broom personally; meaning every product he sold was top class and one of a kind. James loved visiting his shop, and the older man had a soft spot for the bespectacled boy.

They walked to the end of the town till they reached a secluded hill. Charlie's house cum workshop was located on top of that. He owned a large plot of land, his workstations spread out in various different sheds.

"Charlie? You in here?" asked James, as he knocked on the door. There was no reply. "Hang on, I'll go in through the back and check."

Sirius nodded, preferring to wait outside. He had never met this elusive Charlie and he'd rather not burst in on him unannounced. Walking about the green clearing, he let out a small yawn. That bacon had made him incredibly sleepy.

He rounded a corner and almost bumped into someone.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't know someone was here. I-"

His eyes widened as the person in front of him abruptly stopped their torrent of apologies. Her short black hair and dark brown eyes were unmistakable. Not to mention the shock that was clearly being mirrored by his face.

"Adams?"

"Black?"

"What're you doing here?" he asked immediately.

Overcoming her initial surprise, she slipped into her usual stance of polite defiance. Looking at her closely, he saw that she was wearing jeans and a flannel shirt, her feet bare and hands grimy.

"I'm working here."

"Huh?"

"I'm working at Charlie Logan's over the summer," she said, slowly enunciating each word.

"You're… making broomsticks?" he asked, slightly incredulously.

"Yup," she said, popping the 'p'.

"That's…"

"Incredibly cool?" she asked, a smirk dancing on her lips.

"It's insane, Sia!"

They both looked around to see James bounding up to them. He was grinning widely, his hair sticking up at odd angles.

"I can't believe you're working with Charlie!"

"Believe it, James. Because I'm here for almost the entire summer break," she laughed at her friend's deliriously happy expression. "Though Charlie isn't here right now. I was just cleaning up some stuff. He won't be back till after lunch. So you're out of luck."

"Damn. I really wanted to meet the old man. Guess I'll come back later," he sighed. "Hey Sia, what're you doing now? Fancy a walk with me and Padfoot?"

"Sure. Just let me lock up," she said, walking into the main house.

Ten minutes later, they were walking back to the center of town. Sirius was still a bit shocked about finding Adams over there. Even though they weren't bitter enemies anymore, he still didn't know her as well as either James or Remus. He couldn't imagine her working on brooms.

"You'll have lunch at my place, right?" asked James.

"I will?" she asked, laughing at James' incredulous expression. "Why not? Let me in on your incredibly privileged life, Potter."

"You will not be disappointed, my cynical friend," he grinned, slinging an arm across her shoulder. Sirius was on his other side and soon his other arm was around his best mate's shoulder. The three of them found a quiet spot near the lake, where they sat and drank the Butterbeer that James had acquired from somewhere.

"So where are you staying? You can always crash at my place if Charlie gets too cranky."

Sia laughed loudly at this suggestion. "No, no. I'm not staying at Charlie's. My aunt and uncle live here as well. Do you know the Wagners?"

"Yeah, I've seen them around a few times. They moved here a few of years ago, right?"

"Yup. My mom's sister was Juliana Abbott. Pureblood to the bone. And then she went off and married a muggleborn – Michael Wagner. Quite a scandal, but people ultimately made their peace with it. Aunt Julia moved here with Uncle Mike after Cecilia was born."

"Sounds exciting, eh Padfoot?" asked James, nudging Sirius.

"I can only imagine the kind of chaos which must have erupted," he said with a wry smile.

"You have no idea."

"I think I do," he said, more to himself than anyone else.

…

Summer passed lazily, which suited Sirius just fine. He and James regularly played Quiditch in the latter's backyard. Remus had been over to visit a couple of times. Adams was also around sometimes. He was getting along better with her now. They had moved from caustic insults to indifferent silences to friendly banter.

Sometime in the middle of July, James had gone off to fetch Remus from the apparation spot and Sirius was relaxing under the large tree at the back of the house. He heard footsteps and soon saw the unmistakable figure of Adams standing in front of him.

"Is Remus here yet?" she asked, pushing her hair away from her forehead.

"Nah. Not yet. Prongs should be back with him in a bit, though," he said, shifting slightly and making room for her to sit.

She sat down and leaned against the trunk of the tree, rolling up the sleeves of her shirt. He often wondered why she was working at Charlie's. It was not something that people usually did. How had she managed to persuade the grumpy old man in the first place?

As these thoughts were flitting through his head, he heard her take off her shoes next to him.

"How are you holding up?"

He looked at her curiously, not knowing exactly what she was talking about.

"James told me. What's life like after prison break?"

He barked out a laugh at her choice of words while she continued to look at him expectantly.

"Loads better. Prongs' parents have been amazing to me," he said, not looking at her.

"That's good. You have guts, Black. I'll give you that. Breaking away from a poisonous environment is tougher than it looks. It's all well and good to say 'just suck it up and leave', but actually having the resolve to go through with the entire thing is something else."

She had turned away from him while saying this. He listened to what she had to say, every word hitting him with some sort of extra force.

"Have a lot of experience in this department, Adams?" he asked with a smirk.

She turned towards him with a sparkle in her eyes. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Her eyes unnerved him sometimes. They were a swirl of black and brown, impassive at most times but he knew better. He had seen intense emotions dancing around in them on more than one occasion. He would never forget the day she had found out about Remus' condition, the fire in her eyes as she tried to convey her support with more than just words. Neither would he forget her unforgettable altercation with Grey. That bastard had deserved that nose-breaking punch.

He chuckled at this memory, her face scrunching up in confusion. "Alright there, Black? Not going barmy, are we?"

"Careful, Adams. Or I might start thinking that you care about me."

"Laboring under false impressions – seems to be something you're rather good at, Black," she replied, narrowing her eyes challengingly.

"Are you two fighting again?"

James and Remus walked up to them, the latter smiling genially while the former looked slightly exasperated. "I leave you two alone for twenty minutes and you can't even work with that," he stated, plopping down beside Sirius.

"Alright, Sia?" asked Remus, his sandy hair slightly longer than usual.

"Yup. And you? I heard that the last one was quite bad," she said, making room for him beside her. He shrugged and sat down, pulling out a Chocolate Frog from his pocket.

"You sure you aren't addicted, Moony?" asked Sirius with an amused sigh.

"What can I say, Padfoot? They keep me going," he replied with a grin and produced a few more from his pocket, offering them around.

"Moony, stop handing those things around. You'll spoil your lunch," said James.

"Sounding more and more like Mrs. Potter every day, mate. I'd be careful if I were you," said Remus.

"I don't know. It'd be a major improvement, honestly. Mrs. P is a stand up woman," said Sirius, through mouthfuls of chocolate.

"Say it, don't spray it, Black," said Adams, wiping off bits of chocolate from her face with visible disgust.

"My saliva is sacred, Adams. You should be honored," he said, lazily putting his arms behind his head.

"I'm sure Snape feels the same about his hair grease," she replied, James and Remus snorting next to her.

"You're daft, comparing me to Snivellus," scoffed Sirius.

"Why? You both have long black hair, pale skin, tall structure. I can see the resemblance clearly." By this time, James and Remus were in splits, while Sirius glared at her and chucked a handful of grass at her. "Mature, Black. Very mature."

After lunch, Remus and Sirius were playing Exploding Snap while James and Sia watched.

All of a sudden, an owl flew by, dropping four letters onto James' lap.

"Oi! Hogwarts letters! Get 'em while they're hot!" he yelled, waving them around excitedly.

"You're such a geek, Prongs. Just a Quidditch playing one," said Black, grabbing his letter.

Sia opened hers curiously, wondering why it was heavier than usual. Two letters were enclosed in the envelope along with a bronze and blue badge.

"Whatcha got there, Sia?" asked James. "Merlin! We've got ourselves some stiff competition! Padfoot, take a look at this. Li'l old Sia has been made the Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain."

Sia's face was impassive, before breaking out into a huge grin. Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain had a nice ring to it. And the badge was pretty fantastic.

"Watch out, boys. The Quidditch Cup is ours this year," she said, wiggling her eyebrows at them.

Sirius barked out a laugh while Remus looked very amused. James looked slightly crestfallen at her confident declaration.

"Hold on there, Sia. I need to look good in front of Evans. You becoming Captain won't change the fact that we'll be winning every match, right? You wouldn't do that to me," he said, ruffling his hair nervously.

Remus and Sirius snorted at this, and went back to their game. Sia looked at James thoughtfully for a minute before tilting her head to the side.

"You don't get it, do you James?"

He looked confused. "Are you serious about Lily? I mean, do you actually fancy her or is this some sort of amusing hobby of yours?"

James looked startled for a minute before looking away and running his hand through his hair again.

"I'm mad about her, Sia. Ever since 4th year. She's so smart and funny and confident and Merlin! So gorgeous as well," he sighed.

"You realize that behaving like an obsessive stalker is not doing you any favors, yeah?" His mouth fell open but she continued before he could interrupt. "To her, you are an arrogant, entitled, possessive, chauvinistic arse. Doesn't sound too good, eh?"

He shook his head meekly, not really knowing how to react.

"Which is unfortunate. Because you aren't any of those things. Except maybe the arrogant arse bit," she added with a grin. "But the point is, you have no chance of even being her friend, let alone anything more, if you continue behaving like this."

"I- I don't know. Whenever I see her, I just do these ridiculous things. It's like she brings out the worst in me," he said with a defeated look.

Sia chuckled. "No. I just think you're always trying to get her attention. But in the worst way possible." He still looked pretty dejected, so she ruffled his hair affectionately. "Why don't you try to be a normal human being around her? You don't really know her that well. Take this chance to get to know her, and give her a chance to give you a chance. And then, if you still fancy her, then I'd say go for it. But at least give yourself a fair chance."

She left James sitting thoughtfully, and wandered inside to get a glimpse of the game before she went back to work.

…

"Woah…"

Sirius was gob smacked. He had never before seen an actual Muggle motor bike in his life. And it was a beauty. Sleek black leather seat, comfy side-car and a rather sexy outer polish.

"I think I'm in love."

Sia snorted next to him. He had come over to her Aunt's place to tell her that they were going to visit Remus at his house and ask whether she wanted to accompany them. Instead, he had been mesmerized by her uncle's brand new motorbike, while she stood around feeling stupid.

"I'm sure you two will have beautiful children but shouldn't we be going to Remus' place now?"

"In a moment. I just want to…" He continued to gaze at the bike with a very bizarre, love-struck expression until her uncle came out to see why she was taking so long.

"Misha, what's going on?" He stopped when he spotted Sirius. "Who's your friend?"

"Sirius Black. He's staying with the Potters. We're in the same year but he's in Gryffindor."

"I see. Well, Sirius, I see that you've got good taste. I've just brought her back from the showroom today," her uncle replied with a genial smile.

"She's beautiful," said Sirius, with the same dreamy voice.

"Do you want to take her for a spin?" Sia's eyes widened in shock as she turned towards her uncle.

"Uncle Mike, he doesn't know how to ride a bike! Don't give him any ideas!"

"Well, why don't you take him, Misha?" he said, in a matter of fact way.

"Yeah. Why don't you, Misha?" said Sirius, smirking at her slightly.

"Alright. But I get to choose where we're going and when we'll be back," she replied with a huff.

"Absolutely, Misha," grinned Sirius.

Once they were both on the bike with helmets on, she turned back and glared at him.

"Will you stop calling me that?"

"Not until you tell me why that's your nickname," he smirked.

"Arse."

"Come on. Times a' wasting, Misha," he continued nonchalantly.

"When I was little, I couldn't pronounce my entire name. Instead of Artemisia, I used to say Artmisha," she mumbled through gritted teeth.

"That's cute."

"Sod off."

"Whatever you say, Misha," he said with a wink.

"UGH!"

Revving up the bike, she blasted off down the road, not really caring about where they went. Although, a small smirk did line her features when she felt Sirius grab onto her waist for balance. She'd show him what it was like to mess with her.

At the end of an hour, Sirius was dazed, breathless and thoroughly exhilarated. Sia had maneuvered the bike expertly, with the same precision as she did with a broom. He had initially been taken aback by the speed, but soon cherished the wind coursing through his long hair. This was probably one of the most amazing experiences in his entire life.

"Thanks for that, Misha," he said, grinning as Sia glared at him.

"Wanker."

…

Sirius came by almost every day after that. He would sit and stare at the bike, and sigh occasionally with dramatic flourish. Her uncle seemed to find this very endearing, but Sia just found it annoying. Normally, she would just ignore him and go off to work at Charlie's, but today she just couldn't manage it. She was painting a rather complicated fence in her aunt's back garden. She needed to get the gold accents absolutely right and his annoying sighs were starting to get annoyingly distracting.

Glaring at him, she picked up the paintbrush and flicked some of the unused red paint at him. His head flicked towards her and he stared at her like she had grown three heads. However, his Marauder glint was soon back and with a wave of his wand, two thick blobs of paint had been smeared onto Sia's cheeks. She probably looked ridiculous because he had doubled over in laughter. Something stirred in her and she walked towards him quickly, trapping him between herself and the wall.

"Looking good there, Misha," he said with a smirk.

Her eyes were unwavering as she slowly leaned towards him. Sirius tensed for a second, as he began to get whiffs of her shampoo. Ever so slowly, she brushed her right cheek against his, rubbing the paint onto him and then doing the same with the left. Her nose rubbed against his and a shiver ran down his spine. He was stuck to the wall, as she continued to assault his senses.

Gradually, she looked up into his eyes, their noses still touching. Sirius drew in a sharp breath as he stared directly into her dark brown, enchanting eyes. This slight movement caused the tips of their lips to collide. He could swear that he saw her eyes darken and he wondered if his eyes had done the same.

Sia could see his eyes change from a silvery mist to a dark stormy grey. She slowly pressed her mouth onto his, waiting for him to pull away. He didn't and that's all she needed to know. As if letting out all her pent up frustration, she slowly kissed him, sucking on his upper lip and then moving on to the lower one.

Sirius felt like he was on fire. This girl was driving him mad. The maddening pace of her intoxicating kisses was only rivaled by her citrusy smell that pervaded his senses. He decided that he wasn't going to be the only one to suffer and matched her movements, sucking on her lips with unbelievable patience.

With one final kiss, she pulled away, her eyes closed and breathing heavy. He was sure that he looked pretty flushed himself. When she finally looked at him, the corner of her lip lifted before she burst into peels of laughter.

He stood bewildered for a minute, before joining in with her infectious laugh.

"This-this is so not happening," she said, gesturing between the two of them as a fresh bout of laughter overtook her

"I know. We are terrible for each other. It would never work out," he agreed, clutching his sides and laughing.

It was good to know that they shared the same sentiment. Otherwise this might have become a potentially problematic situation.

"Let's keep this our little secret," she said, winking at him.

…

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