i love my reveiwers.
ladyblue: i'll be honest; the nonsense talk is DEFINATELY the most entertaining.
rockstar101: i'm glad i made you laugh.
thislove: i hope i didn't make you wait too long!
kerrie: haha, yeah, she does. i just felt like we hadn't met rya's full self until her temper appeared. and that seemed like the best way to do it. you never mess with a woman!
rawrz: no worries, you'll find out what's going on with the order...eventually... mahaha...
seanymph: nah, the drunk is just a drunk that i used for my own sadistic purposes. and i have to admit i'm rather fond of the "sadistically proud" line. it makes me giggle.
In spite of our—well, my—little escapade, Sirius and I continued wandering around Diagon Alley for the rest of the afternoon. Neither of us could really think of anything better to do, and we had yet to get bored. They call it an alley, but it is so far from the run-of-the-mill, dumpster, trash- and filth-covered backstreet that one would think of: Diagon Alley as more of an outdoor strip mall than an actual alley.
Though, come to think of it, the whole thing is in an alley behind the Leaky Cauldron. Still.
Sirius took me to Eeylops Owl Emporium, offering to buy me a gorgeous barn owl I had been ogling. I didn't believe him until he started fishing money out of his pockets.
"No! Sirius!" I pulled his hands away from his pockets before he could grab anything. "I already have an owl." He eyed me. "I promise."
I still had my hands gripped around his wrists, holding them away from both of us. Sirius continued to eye me, as if I wasn't trustworthy. "What's its name?" he asked.
"Hooter." He raised an eyebrow at me, my favorite mischievous grin appearing on his face. "My—the friend who gave her to me named her." Sirius didn't need to know that the unnamed friend goes unnamed because he is a boy and was at the time my boyfriend. "We were still in school. You know how immature teenagers are."
Catching me off-guard, Sirius looped his hands away from mine and snaked his arms around me, making me squeak in surprise. He chuckled at the sound.
"What strange noises you make, little Puma," he said, tightening his grip. "One would think you were a wee little mouse at the pitch of that squeak."
I punched him uselessly. "I'm no mouse. Pumas eat mice. And various other small squeaky creatures." I tried pushing away, but he was stronger than me and only tightened his grip even more, pressing me against him. I gave up and draped my arms across his shoulders. "You startled me. That's all."
He kissed me, gentle and loving and intense. His lips moved down my jawbone until he found my ear. "Then I guess I'll have to warn you when I want to," he nibbled my ear, I groaned, "do things to you." His mouth came back to mine, letting me kiss him passionately. My actions told him I knew exactly what he meant by 'doing things.'
"Hey!" We broke apart. A woman ran around a stack of cages towards us. "None of that in the store!" She was old and graying, with wispy hair and veiny hands that were shooing Sirius and I out the door. "You sinful children do your disgusting, dirty, foul deeds elsewhere! Get out right now!"
Sirius and I ran out the door, barely waiting until the door shut to burst out laughing.
"Sinful children!" I said, laughing so hard I could barely breath. "We're not even teenagers anymore!"
Sirius' composure was nearly recovered. "I don't know about you, but I'm sure the 'foul deeds' she was referring to are pretty damn nice! I'm almost offended!" After that, we ended up sitting on a bench not far from the emporium, wiping away tears of laughter and trying to catch our breath.
"Come on," Sirius said after a while. "There's still more to see!"
He took me to an out of the way shop that smelt strongly of melted metal and fire. The sign over the door was so covered in grime and soot that I couldn't even read it anymore.
There was a big man sending sparks off red-hot metal when we walked through the door, and Sirius and I waited for him to notice us instead of interrupting. I could see dirty blonde hair sticking out of the man's cap, and muscle bulged whenever he moved. There was a lot of this man, and yet when he stood straight to greet us I found he was only an inch or two taller than me.
His teeth flashed white when he finally recognized Sirius. "Sirius Black! It's been quite some time! How've you been?"
He grabbed Sirius' hand firmly and shook it hard. "I've been, Neil, and that's enough for me." I saw Sirius wipe his palm on his pants and had to hold back a snicker. "Neil, this is Rya, my lovely girlfriend." I blushed. Neil managed to wipe some of the sweat and dirt off his hands before gently grabbing one of mine and lifting it to his lips. "Rya, this is Neil, an old friend of mine and a hopeless romantic despite it all." Sirius took my hand from Neil, who winked at me. I didn't know what to say. "Neil, where's your wife?"
Neil immediately dropped his flirtatious manner. "She's upstairs starting dinner." He smiled and sniffed the air. "I can already smell the spices."
"You'd be the only one," Sirius said. "Our noses are clogged with the stuff you breath daily."
Neil shrugged. "I love my job."
"What exactly is your job, if I may ask?" I asked timidly. He looked and moved like a blacksmith, but I had yet to meet a wizard willing to submit himself to that much hard labor.
"I'm a blacksmith. The old fashion kind. None of this lazy wand waving crap. Everything I make is made by me, not magic." He reached over and picked up a plain silver disk with a hole at one end. He turned it over and showed me a little marking on the back. "I leave my sign on every piece of work. This one has no design yet, but…" He rubbed the smooth side.
"Neil, now that I see just how metal-headed you are today, I think I'll take Rya off and show her the rest of the Alley." Sirius placed his hand in mine and pulled gently away. Neil didn't protest.
"Good idea. I'd probably get distracted and forget to talk to you anyway." He pulled a piece of metal out of the fire. "Nice to meet you Rya!" he yelled to the metal.
"You too!" I called back, though I was unsure whether or not he heard me. When Sirius and I left the smithy, I was amazed at how fresh the air seemed. "Sirius, is he always like that?"
"If you mean obsessed and distracted, then yes. For ages." He kissed my hand, making me blush. The little gesture meant more coming from him. "I love you."
"That was random." He gave me a look, almost like the puppy eyes. "Yes, I know, I love you too." He smiled and pulled me away.
Someone short and rather chubby ran into us as we were walking past a side alley.
"Peter!" Sirius exclaimed happily. Crap, I thought.
"Sirius! Hello!" Peter replied quickly. His eyes were restless, and he was wringing his hands. "What are you doing here?!"
"C'mon Wormtail, this is Diagon Alley. You know I've been staying with Rya." They both looked over at me, though Peter's gaze left me unsettled. Sirius looked at the arch Peter had just ran from. "Why were you in Knockturn Alley, Pete?" he asked, his tone confused and not quite suspicious. "You know there's nothing good down there."
"I got lost!" Peter shouted. "I'm late now! I've got to go! Bye!" He ran down the street as fast as his chubby little legs would carry him, not even waiting for a response from Sirius. So much for best friends.
"What the hell was he doing in Knockturn Alley?" Sirius muttered to himself. He was still staring after Peter. "Of all the places to get lost…"
"Sirius?" I said tentatively, drawing him back to reality.
"Hm? Sorry, thinking. What's up?" He took my hand in his once more, but it didn't help calm the disquiet in my mind. I looked over at the sign on the wall and was alarmed to see red paint dripped like blood over the words 'Knockturn Alley.'
"What's in Knockturn Alley?" I asked. My voice was ever so slightly higher than usual. I attempted looking around the corner, only to have Sirius pull me away.
"Nothing good, I'll tell you that. Knockturn Alley is the bad wizard's version of Diagon Alley. Anytime you want trouble, just head that way." His voice was bitter.
"Then why was Peter down there?"
He stopped and looked at me. "I don't know." It wasn't until we started walking that he finally scoffed at himself. "What am I thinking? Wormtail probably got lost, just like he said. It happens all the time. He is terrible with things like that." He smiled, but it looked fake. "Besides, Pete doesn't have reason to go down Knockturn."
0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0
Unsettled as I was, I would not have returned to my previously boisterous mood without Sirius' cajoling. Sirius regained himself shortly after Pettigrew disappeared, pulling me off to a niche on the side of the road. His arms snuck under my robes and wrapped tightly around me, gripping me as if he had nothing else to hold on to.
"Sirius, what are you doing?" I asked, smiling. Shadows hid us from the world, it seemed. Looking into his warm dark eyes, I forgot we were on a bustling street.
He shrugged in response; his eyes searching mine and a light smile tugging at his mouth. "I'm being spontaneous." He lowered his lips to mine, connecting softly at first, and then with more passion as the kiss continued. My arms wrapped around his neck, my fingers entwining in his soft hair. His hands tightened on my back, pushing our bodies together so hard it almost hurt. We broke apart for breathing purposes, but a fire was burning in each of our eyes.
I kissed him hard and fast. "I think I like it when you're spontaneous." My breathing was so heavy I was amazed I could speak. Sirius was struggling for air as well, his chest shaking against mine, his heart pounding hard enough I could feel it in my veins.
"Rya… I want you to know how much I love you…" He paused and kissed me, pressing his lips to mine so earnestly that I thought we would meld together. "I just don't know how…" Each breath was shallower than the last. His fingers were playing with the hem of my shirt again. "There is nothing I can compare my feelings to. I've never felt this strongly about anyone…ever… I love you and I'm in love with you. I wish I could give you more." He kissed my forehead before resting his head on mine.
"Sirius, you don't have to give me anything. You are all I want." I grinned and pulled away my face so I could look at him. I could feel the heat of his body pressed against mine, and suddenly this niche was too public for me. "Of course, we could go back to our room at the Leaky Cauldron…"
A simultaneously loving and mischievous smile spread across his face. He pressed my body against his once more, kissing me hungrily, coaxing the fire within to burn hotter. "I won't say no to that, my little Puma."
no, i am not telling you the details. you'll find out roughly what happened back at the leaky cauldron in the next chapter, but i thought i'd keep their first night..ahem...together...private. just the first one though, never fear!
yay, reviewys please!