Chapter 11—People Are Just People
People are just
people The world is
everlasting
They shouldn't make you nervous
The world is
everlasting
It's coming and it's going
If you don't toss your
plastic
The streets won't be so plastic
And if you kiss
somebody
Then both of you'll get practice
Put dirtballs in your pockets
Put dirtball's in
your pockets
And take off both your shoes
Cause people are
just people
People are just people
People are just people like
you
--Regina Spektor "The Ghost of Corporate Future"
"Where exactly are we going?" Daniéle asked, for the tenth time; hoping that this time she would actually get an answer.
"Don't worry about it love," Sirius said, smiling down at her, and kissing the hand that rested in his softly.
"How can I not worry about it?" she asked grumpily, beginning to get fed up with the situation. And Sirius's deep chuckle only served to anger her further.
"We're going to have a nice time. That's it. There's nothing to worry about, or get angry about, pet."
"Pet?" Daniéle asked looking at him, with a newly groomed eyebrow raised.
"What?" Sirius asked, confused by her expression.
"I'm not a pet. I'm a woman, not an animal," she said, speaking slowly as if explaining herself to a child.
Sirius frowned at her, and felt the griffin stirring around down in the pit of stomach; scratching around and throwing its head about fiercely. It snarled at Sirius to put Daniéle in her place.
"Don't," Sirius warned calmly.
"Don't what?" Daniéle questioned, for some reason she felt the need to argue. She was angry with Sirius; although, she knew she really had no reason to be.
"Don't speak to me that way," he said, gritting his teeth at her insubordination. He felt the griffin stretching out inside of himself, as if getting ready for the fight. But Sirius was determined to not let it get that far.
"I'll speak to you any way I want. I don't want to be here, I want to go back to Gryffindor Tower and spend time with my friends. I hardly ever see them anymore," Daniéle replied snippily. Daniéle continued to rant about any and everything that she could think of that was bothering her about Sirius and their relationship.
Sirius stood there very quietly, trying desperately to still the animal stirring within him, but the more Daniéle argued, the more the griffin inside began to rear its proud and angry head. Until finally, Sirius's control snapped.
Sirius turned around swiftly and grabbed Daniéle roughly by her upper arms. He pulled her body from the ground and brought her face to a mere centimeter from his.
Daniéle yelped in surprise, not fully registering the pain from his grip because everything moved so fast.
"Shut up. Okay? Just shut up," Sirius said in shouted, shaking her roughly with each word he spoke, his eyes completely black with rage.
"Now you will stop all of this complaining because you've got it very good. Do you understand this? Extremely good. I treat you with the utmost respect, when I am given it. And I love you. Do you understand that? I love you more than anyone else will, and especially more than that whelp ever could. I know what you need, what you want, and I give it to you. You wanted to slow the relationship down, so I did. You're not ready to have a sexual relationship, and I don't push you, even though that is the only thing that will truly save my life. Do you understand that?" Sirius asked angrily, his voice a controlled whisper. When he received no answer, he shook Daniéle angrily. "Do you understand that? Do you understand that the only thing that will keep me from dieing is having sex with you, making love to you, fucking you, whatever you want to call it? That is the only thing that will keep me from dieing."
Daniéle stared fearfully at Sirius, and whimpered when his fingers tightened painfully on her arm. And try as she might, she couldn't keep the tears from slipping from her face when he referred to their impending sexual relationship.
"Stop crying," Sirius said roughly, as he put her back on the ground and let her arms go, but the evidence of their conversation was still present. There on her arms were angry, red hand marks.
"Come on, we're going to be late," Sirius said in a tight voice, trying to calm himself and the griffin down. "When we get there, I want you to go into the bathroom, and fix your face. You need to make a good impression."
Daniéle merely nodded, and stayed silent for the rest of the trip and kept her eyes trained on the road or ahead of her.
Sirius and Daniéle made it to the Leaky Cauldron without any other incidents, and while Sirius went to the table where his lunch date was, Daniéle headed straight for the restroom to "fix her face."
Daniéle walked into the bathroom, and straight to the mirror. She looked at herself and just stared at her reflection. She couldn't believe what had just happened. Sirius had never done anything like that before, and she wasn't ashamed to admit that she was afraid of him.
"And someone is calling my name from the back of the restaurant. And someone is playing a game in the house that I grew up in. And someone will drive her around, down the same streets that I did, on the same streets that I did. Smile like you mean it, smile like you mean it," she sang quietly to herself, trying to gather the strength to walk out of the bathroom, and play nice with Sirius and whoever she was supposed to be meeting.
Daniéle pulled out her wand and erased the tear stains, her red rimmed eyes, and the black stains of her eyeliner. She reached into her purse and pulled out her make up supplies to return her face to the state that it was before the episode with Sirius. She reapplied her eyeliner (which she tucked into her eyelashes, making the line as thin as possible), mascara, bronzer, blush, and put on a fresh coat of lipstick and lip gloss. She took her time because the longer she stayed in the bathroom, the more time she had to mentally prepare herself for whatever Sirius had in store.
Daniéle looked at herself in the mirror, and she was pleased with the end result. She truly loved the fine art of make up. Her face was perfect, her eyes naturally done, which allowed her lips, which were a sexy siren red, to take the center stage of her face. When she was fully satisfied with her appearance, she took a deep breath and moved for the door, only to be stopped by a series of sharp pains in her abdomen.
"Damn," Daniéle moaned, doubled over in pain. She knew this pain all too well. And she wished she could go straight to Madam Pomfrey and get a potion to help alleviate menstrual cramps. Daniéle sucked in a deep breath, and tried to breath through the pain. She knew if she didn't get out to Sirius soon he would be very angry with her, and the last thing she wanted was a repeat of earlier.
She stood straight, took in a deep breath and released slowly, smiling to herself in reassurance. "Smile like you mean it," she sang quietly, leaving the bathroom in search of Sirius.
Daniéle exited the restroom and looked around the pub in search of her professor. She saw him sitting with two people towards the back of the pub, and made her way over to them quickly.
Sirius stood with a small smile when he saw Daniéle walking over towards him. His eyes fell to the two forming bruises on her arms, and he felt guilt begin to settle in the pit of his stomach. He should have fought harder to tame the griffin, he thought to himself, and he vowed to himself that there would be no repeat performance.
"There you are love, I was starting to get worried," Sirius said amicably. He bent down to Daniéle's level, and placed a kiss to her head. He frowned sadly when Daniéle flinched at the gesture. But he nonetheless smiled at his guests and at her when she sat in the chair besides his.
"Daniéle, I want to introduce you to my godson Harry, and his fiancé Hermione. I know you guys went to Hogwarts for a few years together, but I'm not exactly sure if you guys ever met," Sirius said. Harry and Hermione smiled brightly at Daniéle in greeting.
Daniéle smiled shyly, nodding her head at two of the people who were the saviors to the Wizarding World. Yes, she had gone to school with them, but she had never sat down with them, and she had completely forgotten that Sirius was the godfather to Harry Potter.
As Sirius, Harry, and Hermione talked easily with one another, Daniéle found it hard to join into the conversation because she couldn't relate to anything they were talking about and she had no frame of reference to the conversation being held. So she just drifted off in her mind, nodding and smiling at different intervals of the conversation, while wishing she had her journal handy to jot a few notes and feelings down.
"Daniéle, I really like your lipstick," Hermione said, noticing that Daniéle had been silent throughout the entire lunch.
"Thanks, it's called Russian Red. It's MAC," Daniéle said, smiling happily that someone had noticed the effort it took her to create the perfect red lips.
"Well I don't like it," Sirius said with a frown, "I mean, don't get me wrong pet," Sirius said, raising an eyebrow when he saw Daniéle cringe at the name, "you look beautiful. But you don't need make up; you're very beautiful without it."
"Actually Sirius, I have acne scarring and make up helps to hide it. And besides I like make up, it makes me happy," she said with an edge to her voice.
"I just think…."
"Well maybe you shouldn't think of my face if it causes you such problems," Daniéle said frowning.
"Look, don't take that tone with me. You don't need make up."
"And you don't need to talk about things you know nothing about. When was the last time you wore make up?"
"Nev—"
"Exactly."
"Daniéle, look…."
But before Sirius could finish his sentence, Daniéle had grabbed her handbag and went back into the bathroom. She looked at herself in the mirror, and she really hated to do what she was about to do, but she knew that it was for the best.
"What was that all about Sirius?" Harry asked amused.
Sirius sighed angrily, hating that he Daniéle was acting like this in front of his guest. He hated the fact that all of the ground that he was making with her was being ruined by her stubbornness.
"Did the two of you have a fight before you got here or something?" Hermione asked.
Sirius was assaulted with a memory of his angry encounter with Daniéle and he was embarrassed and ashamed by his behavior, but he wasn't about to let his present company know about what happened between the two.
"You could say that."
"What was it about?" Harry asked.
"Oh about this and that really," Sirius replied evasively.
"Did have anything to do with how rushed your relationship is?" Hermione asked.
"Rushed? How is it rushed?" Sirius asked exasperatedly.
"Come on Sirius," Harry asked laughing at his godfather.
"You know it's rushed. And have been completely understanding of her situation?" Hermione asked skeptically.
"What? Yes! Yes I have."
"Are you sure?"
"Well I mean…I try to, but…"
"Well try a little harder," Hermione said. "I know it can't be easy for you, you've changed into something that you don't fully understand and you can't fully control. You don't want to lose control, and do something that you might regret," Hermione said.
"What do you mean?" Sirius asked suspiciously, thinking that maybe Hermione had noticed the bruises on Daniéle's arms.
"I've done a bit of reading on griffins and griffons—"
"A bit of light reading?" Harry asked with a laugh.
"Oh hush you, without my light reading you wouldn't have graduated from Hogwarts," Hermione said making a face at him, making Harry laugh. "But like I was saying, I've read about them, and in all but one of the cases reported of griffons, which there are only a few, the griffon couldn't control the griffin within, and ended up letting their anger and the griffin control the situation, and the infected person killed their partner by accident. And if the two had not mated yet, the person died as well. And even if the two had mated, the surviving partner died from grief." Hermione said.
Sirius jaw clenched at this new information. And he wondered why Dumbledore hadn't supplied him with this information.
"I…" Sirius chocked out. "I'm trying…but…"
"You lost control, and that's why those bruises are on Daniéle's arm. It's also the reason why Daniéle's been so distant today," Hermione supplied knowingly.
"Sirius," Harry said, looking at his godfather with shock. "What happened?" he asked, hoping that he had a good explanation because he was not ready to let his godfather down from the pedestal he had placed him on.
"I…she…she just wouldn't stop complaining and harping and nagging about how she didn't want to be with me, and she wasn't getting to spend enough time with her friends, and she missed that fuck up of a boyfriend she had before me. I tried, but I couldn't stop it from happening. I lost it," Sirius said with shame.
Hermione was about to respond, but she was interrupted by Daniéle.
"Alright Sirius, since you didn't like my make up from before how do you feel about this?" she asked sitting down, and turning her body to face him.
Sirius eyes went wide in shock as he looked at Daniéle. "Well, it's…it's…it's different," Sirius said, fighting to keep a straight face.
Daniéle had drawn four large red X's on her face: one on each cheek, one on her forehead, and one on her chin. She had also drawn a series of small X's along her nose.
"I'm glad that you like it, you're right this look is a lot better than the one I had before."
"What do you think Harry? Hermione?" Daniéle said turning from a speechless Sirius.
"I think the first one was quite fine Daniéle, I don't see why you changed it," Hermione said with her mouth open in shock. Harry merely nodded in agreement with Hermione.
"Alright, kitten, alright. You've proved your point," Sirius said, allowing the laughter to flow from his face. "I shouldn't tell you how to wear your make up."
Daniéle wrinkled her nose at being called kitten. "What is with you and these names?"
"What, I think it's a cute nickname. And kittens like to cuddle," Sirius said, pulling Daniéle to him, and rubbing his nose into her neck. Daniéle pushed him away with an exasperated sigh. "You're very weird," she said, looking at him with a small smile.
Sirius winked at her before adding, "And dogs chase kittens," he said with a roguish smile.
"You are so very weird. What do dogs have to do with anything?" She asked looking at him with her eyebrows raised.
"Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough," he replied mysteriously.
"Well I'm going to go and fix my make up," Daniéle said, before getting up and leaving the table.
Sirius and Daniéle bid Harry and Hermione goodbye, before they began their walk back to the Castle. Both parties were silent, but for different reasons. Sirius was trying to figure out a way to apologize for his behavior towards Daniéle, and Daniéle was trying to make sure that she didn't say anything that would upset Sirius because she was still afraid from his behavior earlier.
"Daniéle," Sirius began, but he was stopped by Daniéle.
"Sirius I was wondering if it would be alright if I go and visit Max and Ginny? I hardly see them except for class and meal times, and I really miss them. Besides we need to go over our homework assignments to make sure we got everything right." Daniéle said her lip between her teeth in nervousness, afraid that he would snap again.
"That's fine Daniéle. I'm sorry for keeping you from them, I don't try to. I guess I haven't really thought about your needs that much these past few days. But I'm going to visit Remus, and after that we need to talk about everything. I have some things that I need to explain to you, and I owe you an apology, actually a few, but now is not the time. Can you be back in a few hours?" Sirius said, while looking into her eyes.
"That's fine Sirius, I'll see you later," Daniéle said, before jogging off towards the Castle and leaving Sirius behind.
"Bye," Sirius called quietly. He walked slowly back to the Castle and to Remus's quarters.
I am extremely sorry for the long wait. I've been having some severe issues with this and all of my other stories. I think I am going to go through and make a few edits to HP and FO. I will announce it when it happens so you guys can go and reread it. But I hope I can get a few reviews, I know I have no right in asking for them, but they make me happy.
But on the upside, I am working on chapter 12 and already it has 2 typed pages and a number of freehand pages, so I'm hoping to have at least 6 pages done already. I've read through the story and found my holes and I know what things need to be answered, and I know I need to get a move on with their relationship, but I don't want to rush them.
Her Protector: I am going to redo chapter 22 because the ending messed up everything. I think that's why I've been so blocked because I had plans for certain things to happen in their attempt to rescue Jessica, but the way I wrote chapter 22 wouldn't allow that to happen. So I apologize for this.
SOME OF THE PREQUEL THAT JK ROWLING WROTE HAS BEEN POSTED. IT CAN BE FOUND HERE:
/harry-potter-news/potter-prequel-now-available-online-read-updated-57160/
I THOUGHT THAT I WOULD SHARE BECAUSE IT'S CANON SIRIUS WHEN HE WAS YOUNGER!