Well... this is a fucking beast of a chapter. Longest one yet by far. I guess it kind of makes up for all the piddly little chapters I've been posting lately. But seriously, you may need a break halfway through. But I'm quite happy with how it turned out anyway :3 It get's fluffy near the end so watch out for that ;)
A quick thanks to those who reviewed/favourited/followed! I love you all :3
Perfectly Content
Chapter 25
Ren let out a contented sigh as she placed her dessert cutlery down on her now empty plate. She had just finished eating a gorgeous slice of banoffee cheesecake and she now felt like she couldn't eat another bite. However it was a comfortable kind of full, not the unpleasant, stodgy feeling that came from overeating. She looked around to see that her friends were almost finished with their puddings as well, and they all seemed to be in the same state as her.
Ren's gaze landed on Sirius and she studied him as he popped his last profiterole in his mouth. Despite her earlier Zorro remarks it was undeniable how handsome Sirius looked. His simple choice of attire suited him down to a tee and, Ren wasn't going to lie, the way his trousers fitted around his arse only boosted his overall appearance.
Suddenly there was a scarping sound against the floor, and the group all turned in the direction from which the sound came only to be met with the site of James, still seated in his chair, shuffling over to their table. When he eventually reached the table and settled himself between Ren and Sirius, after having drawn the attention of every student he had shuffled past, he let out a long groan and rested his head on the table.
"I can't take any more of that pretentious twat!" He complained, his voice muffled by the table. Although Ren's back had been to the Head Student table, which meant she hadn't been able to keep an eye on her friends, Ren felt sure she could hazard a guess as to whom James was referring to.
"Will?" She asked, to which James let out a whine.
"Don't even mention that name to me?" He said, and from his other side Sirius chuckled. James, obviously offended by the lack of sympathy from his best friend, sat up and glared at Sirius. "So you find my pain funny?" He demanded, and Sirius grinned.
"Immensely so." He answered. Ren couldn't help but smile at their childish bickering. Honestly it was hard to believe that Sirius and James were eighteen and seventeen, not eight and seven.
"Oh why thank you very much, you bastard!" James was saying, and by now the whole table was tittering at their 'pretend' argument. Ren decided it was time to interfere before the boys resorted to fisticuffs.
"I don't envy you, to say the least." She said, and James turned to her.
"How were you ever in a relationship with him?! Even Padfoot is an upgrade!" He exclaimed, pointing his thumb over his shoulder at Sirius.
"Oi, I resent that!" Came said boys angry cry.
"Hold on," Marley suddenly interrupted, holding up a finger just in time to prevent another spat occurring between Sirius and James. "Did he just say you were in a relationship with him?!" She went on to ask in shock. At this point all eyes were on Ren, and she could practically feel herself turning red.
"Okay before you all start judging me, we all make mistakes!" She attempted to clarify, but still everyone just continued to gawk at her. "Oh my God, stop! I feel the judgement radiating off you all!" Ren suddenly decided to play dirty. "Lily told me all about the stupid things you've all done!" At her words everyone straightened up and had the graces to look shifty.
"Oh Merlin, she did?" Alice asked, her eyes wide. Looking around Ren could see that James and Sirius were the only ones who didn't look worried. James had his fingers laced and resting against the back of his head as he stretched his back.
"Well you already know that me and Sirius are dicks so I'm not particularly worried." He said to Ren, and Sirius nodded in agreement before taking a swig from his goblet.
"Yeah," Ren went on to say, turning back to the rest of the group. "I know all about your moments of shame. Tell me Marley, how did the bleached hair work out?"
"Ohh, shots fired." Dan murmured. It was only now that Ren panicked internally. Maybe she had gone too far? But thankfully Marley didn't seem offended by Ren's foul play, and instead lifted her hands up in defence.
"Okay, point made." She said with a grin.
"Thank you." Ren smirked back and the Scottish girl winked at her from across the table.
"James?" Remus addressed his friend.
"Yes, Moony?"
"Did you just leave Lily on her own?" He asked, and at the werewolf's words James paused.
"… I might have." He said, and Ren couldn't help but let out a giggle.
"Well you're in trouble." She muttered as she sipped her drink.
"How did you excuse yourself?" Emmeline questioned, and James shrugged.
"Well you-know-who was telling us yet another riveting story about himself and just kind of lost my temper and said that my ability to give a shit had vanished the moment her had opened his mouth." He said bluntly. "And then I went on my merry way." He added with a proud smile.
Ren couldn't help herself. She burst out into a fit of laughter, swiftly followed by everyone else, minus James of course. "I should go back to her, shouldn't I?" The bespectacled boy asked once they had calmed down and each of them nodded in response. James let out a sigh. "Fine." He huffed before taking hold of his chair, turning himself around and shuffling himself away.
"Lily's going to kill him." Sirius chuckled in a low voice. Ren turned to Sirius and found herself being struck with a sudden realisation of just how attractive the boy was. Of course she had always known that Sirius was an abnormally attractive lad, but she had normally always been able to look past that. However seeing him all dressed up, smiling and joking with the others, Ren was beginning to see a new side to Sirius.
Also over the last few weeks Ren had noticed that the boy in question hadn't been vying for the attention of the female students. It was odd. From what Remus had told her, Ren had assumed that Sirius would have always had a different girl on his arm every other week and that he would stop at nothing to satisfy his base desires, yet Sirius wasn't really coming across like that at all. Although she hadn't witnessed much of Sirius' apparent womanizing ways, she much preferred the boy who was currently sat at her side.
Ren didn't know what was coming over her that evening. Every time she looked over to Sirius and found that he was already watching her she could just feel a blush erupt on her cheeks immediately. She didn't know whether she liked it or not. He just looked so handsome! She couldn't help herself.
"Attention Students!" McGonagall's voice suddenly rang out amongst the Hall. Ren looked towards the High Table and saw that the Deputy Headmistress had risen from her chair, and as she spoke Professor Flitwick and the school orchestra had made their way onto the stage. "It is time for the dancing to commence. Would the Head Students kindly make their way onto the dance floor?" The Professor instructed, and Ren swivelled round in her seat so she that she could get a good view of the unfortunate group of students.
James was bravely leading the way, holding Lily's hand in his own, followed by the others. Her gaze brushed over Will, walking hand in hand with Alexis towards the dance floor, but she quickly looked away again, determined not to let that prat ruin her night. As the Head Students got into position (the male prefects from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw had been recruited to dance with Mercy and Mary), McGonagall instructed everybody else to gather around the floor, which they all eventually did, albeit somewhat reluctantly.
Once everyone, both students and Professors, had gathered, Flitwick tapped his baton against his sheet music stand a number of times and a moment later a beautiful piece of music blossomed from the band, and the dancing began.
Ren watched from where she stood between Sirius and Dan as the students moved around the floor. Her eyes found James and Lily and she saw that the Head Boy was doing a rather good job at leading Lily around the floor in a surprisingly graceful manner. She could tell that Lily was just as taken aback as the rest of them. From where she stood Ren could see that Lily's eyes were wide with bewilderment, even through the eyeholes of the green and black she wore.
"She couldn't look more shocked if she tried." Sirius suddenly murmured, leaning into her. Ren felt herself shiver at the close proximity between Sirius' lips and her ear. Her ears had always been sensitive.
About a minute into the song Dumbledore and McGonagall made their way onto the dance floor to join the students, followed by a few other members of staff. Ren's gaze was drawn to none other than Doctor Jenkinson, who was wearing a long, strapless red dress that almost seemed to glisten in the low lighting. Ren could tell it was Loren, the black mask that had a smattering of red crystals over it not swaying her judgement in any way, and she watched as the woman began to dance with a handsome looking Professor Mitchell.
By now other students were beginning to join in (some more willingly than others) and Ren noticed the dance lessons had indeed paid off. Suddenly Sirius took hold of her hand and spun her to face him. "M'lady," He began, and Ren raised an eyebrow, sceptically. "Would you care to dance?" He went on to ask, and her eyebrows both shot back down only to furrow in confusement.
"What?" She asked in shock. He wanted to dance?
"I'll take that as a yes." Sirius remarked, and with that he began to tug her onto the dance floor. Ren, who struggled to keep up with him in her heels, felt herself going red again as she was dragged along.
"Alright, alright!" She exasperated, and Sirius stopped pulling her immediately. When they made it onto the dance floor Sirius turned to her and smiled.
"Ready?" He asked, and when Ren gave him a reluctant nod he placed a hand on her waist while Ren placed hers on his shoulder, and in the next beat he began to lead her around the floor. She found that she was staring at him in suspicion. "What?" He questioned when he noticed the looks she was giving him.
"Why are you suddenly so eager? I thought dancing wasn't your thing." At her words Sirius shrugged.
"Well it's different when you have the right partner." He simply said, and Ren knew she was blushing again. Where the hell had that come from? Why was Sirius suddenly being so sweet? And why, why, did she keep blushing?!
The dancing was now in full swing and as Ren glanced over Sirius' shoulder she could see that the dance floor was almost full. She scanned the floor until her eyes found Remus and Cassie. It appeared that the werewolf's nerves had subsided, and from the looks of it he seemed to be rather comfortable having Cassie in her arms.
Suddenly Ren's attention was caught by a flash of gold and cream, and when Ren focused her gaze on the bright figure she automatically wished she hadn't. Chelsea Bradshaw was glaring daggers at her from where she danced with a Ravenclaw whose name escaped Ren. The blonde was wearing a floaty cream dress that had gold crystals embroidered into the bodice, but the golden mask that had a fan of cream feathers stuck to the top of it was all Ren could really focus on.
"Great." She muttered, and Sirius looked at her in confusion.
"What?" He asked, concerned. "Is my dancing that bad?" Ren let out a weak huff of laughter.
"No, Chelsea's seen us so I'm pretty sure I'll be murdered in my sleep tonight." She answered as they turned, and Sirius only scoffed.
"I'd like to see her try." He joked, and Ren laughed.
"I wouldn't sound so confident if I were you." She said. "It's you she wants. At the moment I'm just a mere obstacle in the way." This time Sirius was the one who laughed.
"Like you couldn't handle yourself in a fight against Bradshaw. She's the one who should be worried." He said, and Ren gave him a sheepish smile.
"Me? Resort to violence? Where on earth would you get that impression Mister Black?" She asked dramatically.
"Oh I don't know, by the way what became of that girl who insulted Vanessa that Ollie mentioned on the train?" Sirius inquired, and Ren shrugged her shoulders innocently.
"Oh they never found the body." She joked, and Sirius let out his familiar bark of laughter. At the mention of her sister a thought suddenly popped into Ren's head. "Speaking of Vanessa, apparently her and your brother are getting close, if you know what I mean." She told him, and Sirius' brows creased.
"What?" He asked, his voice cautious. Ren rolled her eyes. Really?
"Do I have to spell it out?" She asked with a grin. "I think that they fancy each other." And when she said 'think' she knew. Well she knew Nessa was certainly developing feelings for Regulus, and from the sounds of it he was reciprocating her feelings.
"No I understand what you meant, but I just… I don't get why, and don't take this the wrong way, Regulus would, y'know, like Vanessa." At Sirius' words Ren's eyebrows shot up, and she was just about to open her mouth in order to stick up for her sister when Sirius went on to defend his point. "It's nothing personal to Vanessa!" He quickly added, obviously keen to avoid Ren's anger. "She's lovely and all, but Regulus… He believed all of Mum and Dad's pureblood bullshit."
Ren watched Sirius as he explained his confusement. She guessed she could understand his doubts. "And seeing as you and your sister are half-bloods I just don't really get why he would be interested." He mused, and after a pause in which she considered his words Ren spoke.
"Well what can I say? We Gallagher girls are just so damn irresistible." She joked, and Sirius let out a low chuckle.
"That you are." He agreed, and Ren felt her cheeks burn in embarrassment. He wasn't meant to agree!
-x-
After a couple of hours the School Orchestra was suddenly dismissed, and Ren looked around in puzzlement, as did most of the other students. She was sat at her table with Sirius, James and Remus, all four of them taking a break from dancing.
"Hm, that's odd. The Ball's not meant to end for another three hours or so." Remus said, checking his watch, and they all looked over to the stage in confusement. Only Professor Flitwick remained, and he was adjusting a microphone to a more suitable height for his short stature.
"Good evening Students. I hope you are all enjoying your evening," The Professor began, and as he spoke Ren glanced over each of the boys' faces and saw that they all obviously had no idea what was going on.
Suddenly a wolf whistle erupted from beside Ren, successfully interrupted Flitwick, and a wave of laughter overtook the Students as Ren spun around to see Sirius, goblet in hand, sitting there looking rather proud of himself. When he saw Ren's reprimanding look, he just sent her a goofy grin and shrugged.
"I think there's something in the punch." He tried to reason.
"There is." James suddenly confirmed from the other side of Sirius, draining his own goblet. Ren's eyes widened in amusement.
"Prongs did you spike the-" Remus began, only to be interrupted by James.
"Shhhhhhh," His voice rather hazy, leaning over and placing a finger to Remus' lips. "I did no such thing."
"Yeah right." Sirius muttered. By now Flitwick had continued to speak.
"Anyway, we have some very special guests for you this evening-" That caught Ren's attention. Guests? As in a band? It had to be a band. "-So without further ado, it gives me great pleasure to introduce to you, The Hobgoblins!"
Cheers and applause erupted from the crowd as five men made their way onto the stage. Although Ren preferred Muggle music, she didn't actually mind The Hobgoblins. Their music was in fact quite good, but it was just the narcissistic lead singer, Stubby Boardman, that Ren really didn't like. Still, Ren wasn't going to let that get in the way of her enjoying the music.
As the band struck up a loud, rocky tune the Students on the dance floor forgot all about the ballroom dancing, and instead began to dance and jump around in a manner that they were obviously more familiar with. Ren downed the rest of her drink as she rose from her seat, kicking her heels off before turning back to Sirius and holding out her hand.
"Would you care to dance?" She asked, repeating his earlier question. Sirius looked up at her.
"I'm not nearly drunk enough." He answered, and Ren only shrugged.
"I'll take that as a yes." She said, once again repeating his words, before grabbing hold of his hand and giving it an almighty tug, only just succeeding in pulling him to his feet. However Sirius, who had a playful grin on his face, suddenly decided to play dead weight, and Ren let out a little yelp when Sirius wrapped his arms around her neck and fell forward, leaving him practically hanging off her.
Ren quickly encased her arms around his waist in an attempted to hoist him upright. "Sirius!" She complained, straining under his weight. "Stop being a dick!" She stumbled backwards, slightly, thanking the Gods that she had removed her heels, because if she hadn't they both would have been on the floor by now.
"Carry me Ren!" Sirius pleaded to her, the humour evident in his voice. Ren could hear James and Remus laughing at their friends' antics, and she again tried to pull him upright.
"I'm serious!" She whined, trying once again to steady herself so she didn't topple over.
"Fine, I'll be Ren." The boy replied, and Ren felt herself scowl.
"As well as a complete moron." She added through gritted teeth, and Sirius let out a scandalized gasp.
"Your words wound me!" He cried, unhooking one of his arms from around her neck and pressing the back of his hand against his forehead dramatically. Ren just rolled her eyes. 'Right, fuck this.' She thought, before removing one her hands from his waist and using it to unhook the arm that remained around her neck and quickly stepping to the side, resulting in Sirius falling face first to the ground.
James and Remus were now in full on stiches as Sirius rolled onto his side and scowled at Ren. "That wasn't nice." He declared. "That was not nice!" He repeated, and Ren did her best to stifle her laughter, but to no avail.
Sirius continued to glare up at her, making no effort to move from the floor, so Ren held out her hand in order to pull him up, however when he took hold of her hand Sirius flashed her a mischievous grin that filled her with dread, and he suddenly yanked her down, and Ren found herself laying half on the floor and half on top of Sirius.
She quickly looked up and saw Sirius looking down at her, smiling. Ren felt her stomach flutter. It wasn't his signature smirk or his cheeky grin, but an actual full on, toothy smile that made small crinkled appear in the corners of his eyes, which were both lit up as he watched her. For a moment Ren was breathless. Neither she nor Sirius said a word, they just smiled at each other, but when James suddenly cleared his throat Ren jumped back into reality.
"Get a room." The bespectacled boy teased, and Ren felt herself begin to blush.
"Well Ren, I believe you just fell for me." Sirius said, his eyes twinkling with mischief.
"You wish." She responded, trying to ignore the fact that there could possibly be an element of truth in what he had said, and Sirius laugh before snaking his arms around her waist and pulling her practically all the way on top of him. "Sirius!" Ren exclaimed in shock. They were in the middle of the Great Hall along with the entire seventh year student body and most of the staff! The Hobgoblins music was now but a dull thud in Ren's ears as her body pressed against Sirius'.
"Mister Black!" McGonagall's voice suddenly pierced through their odd little moment of privacy. They both looked up to see the Transfiguration Professor hurrying over to them. "Would you kindly release Miss Gallagher and stop rolling around on the floor like an infant?" At her words, Sirius did indeed release Ren (and Ren couldn't help but notice the odd feeling off loss) before springing to his feet, pulling Ren along with him.
"Certainly Professor," He said, and Ren couldn't even bring herself to look McGonagall in the eye.
"Please try and refrain from such public displays of affection for the rest of the evening." She went on to say, and at her words Ren's head shot up.
"What? No, no, no, no, no, no-" She began, speaking very quickly. "- Sirius and I aren't-"
"-Will do Professor," Sirius interrupted and Ren turned to him, a scowl creasing her features. "But only if you promise me a dance later." He continued, and McGonagall was now scowling as well as Ren.
"Just keep it clean, Black." She said before turning and stalking away, her robes billowing after her.
"Well that was possibly the most awkward moment of my life." Ren said when McGonagall was out of ear shot.
"Most awkward moment of your life so far." Sirius said, turning to her, and Ren looked up at him with an expression that verged on disbelief.
"Gee thanks, I'll keep that in mind." She drawled sarcastically, and Sirius smirked.
"I should hope so." He said. "Now come on," He added, taking her hand once more. "Let's dance."
And they did. For the next hour or so Ren let herself go, dancing and jumping around to the music with the others. It didn't take long for Remus and James to join them, and throughout her time on the dance floor Ren ended up doing something akin to a tango with James, spent the length of two songs on Remus' back, had a pretend swordfight with 'Zorro' and even ended up wearing James' jester mask for about half an hour before giving it back to him, claiming that it was making her face sweat.
Eventually Ren was overcome with thirst and she managed to excuse herself from the dance floor, despite the protests of the others, and make her way over to one of the many refreshment tables that stood against the walls. She headed over to one that had a large punchbowl of pumpkin juice sat atop it and began to pour some of the orange liquid into a goblet and took a grateful swig.
"So how's the party Homegirl?" Ren spun around and saw none other than Doctor Jenkinson standing beside her. Ren now had a better view of her friends red dress and it was safe to say that she looked like dynamite!
"Hey Loren." Ren greeted as the Doctor picked up a goblet and began to spoon pumpkin juice into it. "Just a word of warning, I'm pretty sure James has spiked the punch." She added, and the Doctor stopped mid-pour and looked up at her.
"Him too?" She asked, and Ren felt her eyes widen in both shock and amusement at the prospect of Loren spiking the punch. She watched as the Doctor attempted to get even more liquid into her goblet.
"How are you even qualified?" Ren asked, struggling to hide her obvious enjoyment of the matter.
"Well, technically I'm not." Loren said with a shrug of her shoulders, and when she looked over to Ren and saw her blatant curiosity she elaborated. "Long story short I got into a lot of debt with some less than cordial men and Dumbledore found me and offered me a job in order to pay them back." At her words Ren's jaw dropped in shock.
"Oh my God, what happened? Who were they?" She asked. "If you don't mind me asking, of course." She added quickly.
Loren suddenly looked rather shifty and avoided looking at Ren. She murmured something quietly, but Ren couldn't make out what she had said. "What?" The Doctor repeated herself a little louder, but still not loud enough for Ren to hear. "What?" She asked again, and Loren looked up abruptly.
"They were bakers! Okay? I got in debt to a bakery after not paying my tab! And let's just say that cake was eaten and blood that wasn't my own may have been shed."
Ren stared in wonderment at the woman before her. Seriously? She had gotten in debt over cake? Then again, what else could she have expected from Loren? She couldn't help the laughter that escaped her lips, causing Loren to look up at her and scowl slightly. "It's not funny!" She argued. "I'm not allowed back in a mile radius of that bakery! And they did the best cakes!" More laughter erupted from Ren at the Doctor's comments and she found herself gripping the side of the table to stop herself keeling over onto the floor. "I'm yet to find a triple chocolate fudge cake that even comes close to the one that bakery did!"
Tears were now leaking from the corners of Ren's eyes. Everything the Doctor added only make her laugh more. "That's it, you laugh at my misfortune." Loren said, obviously trying to overlook the hilarity of the whole situation. However she eventually succumbed, and was son laughing along with Ren.
The two of them remained at the table for a while more, chatting about Loren's debt to the baking society, when suddenly a smooth voice that had a slight hint of an American accent sounded from behind Ren, making her blood run cold.
"Well Ren, fancy seeing you here." It said, and Ren froze. Fan-fucking-tastic. She turned around slowly, scowl already in place, and was met with the sight of none other than William Foster standing before her. Even the very sight of him made memory after memory flood back into her mind. Memories she had tried her best to repress.
Like the first time they had ever really spoken when they had been assigned as each other's Potions partners in her Second Year at Durmstrang. Seeing as Ren had always had a passion for Potions she had turned to the boy and said "You better not mess around in this lesson. I'm not having you mess up my grade." And Will had just grinned back and said. "I was going to say the exact same thing. I feel like we're going to be good friends."
Or when Will had asked her to be his girlfriend a few years later. Ren had developed feelings for him at some point during her Forth Year, and when she had found out that he reciprocated those feelings she had practically jumped on him, believing that that moment was the start of her fairy tale.
Or perhaps the most painful memory of all, the night of her sixteenth birthday when she had willingly given herself to him. It had been during a Half-Term, on the evening of the fifteenth of May. Her family had gone out for the evening, allowing Ren to have a party with some of the people from school and when the night had calmed down, her and Will had gone up to her room by themselves. She had been anticipating this all day, and at the time it seemed like the right choice… and if Will hadn't turned out to be dick she wouldn't have regretted it in the slightest.
She remembered how infatuated she had been with him. She used to drink everything he ever said in, but a lot of the times she had been so in awe of how handsome he was that his words would sometimes just go over her head. For example when he had been telling her about what it was like to live in America when he was younger Ren hadn't really heard anything he had said, instead just watching him dreamily.
However now as Ren glared at Will she knew she would have to push all of those memories aside and keep her guard up. She was not going to let him get to her.
"Will," She said curtly.
"Aww babe, why so formal? After everything we've been through as well." Will said, a smug smirk playing on his lips. Ren felt her blood boil but she remained quiet, determined to keep calm. However she felt Loren take a small step forward, ready to defend her should the time come. "Hmm, cat got your tongue? Well, all I wanted to say was that you're looking lovely tonight." Will's voice was sickly sweet.
"I wish I could say the same about you." She retorted before she could stop herself, and she saw his jaw clench in irritation.
"See you tonight almost makes me regret breaking up with you… almost." Ren forced a twisted smile.
"Ohh," She pouted. "How unfortunate." She added sarcastically.
"Ahh there's that fiery attitude. I've missed that you know. Missed that sharp tongue…" Will took a step forward as he spoke, and Ren automatically took a small step back, wanting to keep her distance from him.
"Erm excuse you," Loren suddenly interrupted, stepping closer to Ren protectively. "Back up." She said, and Will turned to her and gave her a once over, his eyes lingering on her curves.
"And who's this Ren?" He asked, and Ren's prickled at the way he had just looked Loren over as if she was a piece of meat.
"My friend." She replied bluntly, and one of Will's dark brows quirked up in surprise.
"You've made a friend?" He questioned in mock disbelief, and Ren was now finding it even more difficult to not punch him in the face.
"Hey I'm just one of many." Loren answered. "Most of whom are boys that are apparently considered attractive amongst the other students… I personally don't see the appeal myself being a woman of… refined taste-" Ren was unsure where Loren's argument was going. "- So… yeah." The Doctor trailed off, still holding her head high. Will only let out a condescending huff.
"Right… well, I've been there, hit that, got the t-shirt and then quit that so forgive me if I'm not too upset." He replied. That was it. Ren's temper reared its ugly head and she let loose.
"You may have hit this but I faked that!" She quipped, and Loren snorted into her goblet as Will's jaw dropped open.
"Does anyone else smell burning?" Loren murmured, sniffing the air. "Oh wait…" She added when she turned to Will. Ren couldn't help but smirk.
Sirius looked around the Hall from where he was currently stood at the side of the dance floor with the other Marauders. Ren had been gone for about fifteen now, longer than it should have taken her to get a drink, and Sirius couldn't help but wonder where she had gotten to. Maybe Rosier had cornered her and she couldn't think of an excuse to get away from him. Sirius forced himself to calm down before making up his mind to go and find her.
"I'm going to go and find Ren!" He shouted at James, who was at his side, over the blare of the music. James gave Sirius a thumbs up to show that he had heard, and off Sirius went.
He walked around the side of the dance floor, weaving his way through the crowd and scanning all of the refreshment tables until he finally spotted a figure in black. Upon closer inspection he saw that it was indeed the girl he had been searching for, and a smile spread over his features as he made his way over to her.
As he approached, Sirius recognized the woman in red at Ren's side to be Doctor Jenkinson. They were in the midst of conversation, and Sirius couldn't help but admit to himself that he was slightly curious as to what they were talking about. As far as he had known Ren and the Doctor had never spoken before. "Merlin Ren you took your time." Sirius began when he arrived next to Ren, making her jump when he draped an arm around her shoulders. "I was beginning to think you'd drowned in the punchbowl…" He trailed off when he laid eyes upon who was standing before them.
There, looking more pompous and arrogant than Sirius thought was humanly possible, stood Will. "Oh bloody hell not you." He groaned, and he heard Ren let out a small giggle. Will kept his cool front up as he addressed Sirius.
"And who might you be?" He asked patronizingly.
"Sirius Black." He answered, the natural born aristocrat within him stuck his hand out, which Will took.
"William Foster." He said before releasing Sirius' hand. "So," He looked at Ren and then back to Sirius. "How do you know our Ren?"
"He's-" Ren began, but Sirius cut her off, determined to get a rise out of the boy who was clearly bothering Ren.
"-I'm her date." He said, and he saw the flicker of both shock and irritation he had been hoping for in Will's eyes.
"Oh really?" He questioned.
"Really?" Doctor Jenkinson suddenly butted in, turning to Ren in confusement. "You didn't tell me this." She said, and Ren just shrugged.
"Well I… I guess it kind of slipped my mind in all honesty." She murmured, and Doctor Jenkinson moved in front of Ren so that he back was to Will and part way to Sirius.
"What about the one I… y'know… walked in on you with." The Doctor whispered the last bit but Sirius still caught it.
"You too?" He asked quietly, also turning his back to Will so that he couldn't hear, and both Ren and the Doctor looked up at him.
"Yeah, where did you catch them? I got a broom closet-"
"-Okay, okay, moving on!" Ren interrupted. "We've acknowledge that I lack discretion so let's move on and deal with the matter at hand." She muttered, and Sirius couldn't help but chuckled as both he and the Doctor turned back to face Will.
Although Ren and Remus' 'relationship' was still a sore topic for him it was rather funny to think that they had been caught not once, but twice.
"Well you two make quite the couple." Will said, and Sirius couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow. Did Will think that Ren and himself were actually a couple? Oh well, who was he to correct him?
"Cheers mate." He said smugly, snaking his arm around Ren's waist and pulling her closer to him. If Ren had a problem she didn't say anything, instead opting to keep quiet and glare at Will, so Sirius decided to carry on with the game. He could see Will bristle at the contact between him and Ren, and he couldn't help but smile.
"Well don't feel too bad if you can't fully satisfy Ren, if you know what I mean." Will went on to say, and at his words Sirius not only felt his own blood boil, but Ren stiffen next to him as Doctor Jenkinson let out a snort.
"Member of staff present, please bear that in mind." She inputted, but Will only ignored her.
"Oh get over yourself, will you?" Ren spat at him, who gave her a cruel smirk.
"Why so touchy?" He questioned before letting out a deep chuckle. Sirius suddenly decided to play dirty. He knew that one thing all cocky boys got annoyed by was when someone questioned their sexual abilities. He knew he most certainly did.
"To be honest mate you didn't set the bar very high." Will, Ren and Doctor Jenkinson all turned to look at Sirius. From the look on Ren's face Sirius could tell she had no idea where he was going with this.
"And what exactly do you mean by that?" Will asked through gritted teeth. Ah, there was the reaction he had been hoping for.
"Well from the sounds of it you had trouble figuring out where you were meant to put it, let alone what you were meant to do when it was in." He could see Will's irritation rising. His jaw was clenching and his stance was stiffening. "And then from what Ren told me-" He flashed Ren a glance to see if he was okay to continue, and when she gave him the tiniest of nods he looked back to Will. "- She had to double check it was even in when you got going."
That did it. Thankfully Sirius had quick enough reflexes to anticipate the punch that Will was about to throw, but instead of dodging it, he took a step forward in order to put distance between himself, Ren and Doctor Jenkinson so that neither of them got hit in the crossfire.
When Will's fist made contact with Sirius' lip, he felt it split. However he didn't let that get the way of fighting back. Before Will had even pulled away Sirius threw a punch and he heard it make contact with the boys' nose with a satisfying crack, and the force in which Sirius had hit him caused Will to stumble back onto the floor.
Sirius stood for a moment, panting heavily as the adrenaline pumped through his body, before turning back to Ren and beginning to walk back over to her.
"I'm sorry Ren but I had t-"
"-SIRIUS!" Ren suddenly shout in warning, pointing behind him, but before Sirius could even turn around fully he was tackled to the ground by Will.
The power with which Will had attacked him caused them both to knock into Ren with such might that she tumbled back into Doctor Jenkinson and the two of them fell to the floor with a thud, an ungodly squawk of surprise coming from the Doctor as they did.
Sirius managed to turn onto his back as Will clambered on top of him, and he saw that the Doctor was now restraining a very angry Ren. Her arms were wrapped around Ren's waist as the girl wriggled violently in her lap in an attempt to try and get free and lay into her ex-boyfriend.
"Will, you son of a bitch!" Ren was saying as the Doctor hugged her to her, pressing her cheek to Ren's back. "Let me go Loren!"
"Think of McGonagall's etiquette lessons!" Doctor Jenkinson tried to reason as Will grabbed a fistful of Sirius' hair and readied himself to punch Sirius in the face. "I didn't read all of it but I'm fairly sure this was on the top ten list of things not to do at a ball!"
Sirius' struggling seemed to be making it difficult for Will to aim correctly, and Sirius managed to look over to Ren again. She was yet to stop trying to free herself from the Doctor's grip.
"I'll go to that bloody bakery if you just let me go!" Ren suddenly shouted, and after a brief pause in which Sirius pondered the meaning behind her bribe, the Doctor unhooked her arms and in a flash Ren lunged at Will with a yell, effectively dislodging him from Sirius and pinning him to the ground with her own weight, leaving a startled Sirius lying on his back.
He sat up and brought a hand to his lip, but he felt a sharp pain when his fingers brushed against the flesh.
"Well we've been in this position before haven't we Ren?" A voice suddenly sounded from Sirius' right, and he turned his head and saw Ren straddling Will, her hands clutching the front of his robes. He suddenly snapped back into reality.
"You fucking bastard!" Ren seethed as Sirius scrambled up and hurried over to them as Ren let loose and punched Will right in the eye.
By now quite the crowd had gathered around them, and as Sirius did his best to pull a struggling Ren off Will (who was now rolling around with his hands over his face, crying out in pain), Remus and James suddenly ran forward from the crowd and began to help Sirius pull the flailing Ren away.
When Ren was safely restrained Sirius descried to be the bigger man, and he went back over to Will and offered him his hand in order to help pull him up, not that he deserved it. Will did indeed take Sirius' hand, but instead pulled Sirius to the ground and began to pummel his fists into his stomach, however it didn't take a moment's hesitation for Sirius to begin throwing punches back.
He had just successfully managed to split Will's eyebrow when there was a deep yell and a flash of light before each of the boys were suddenly thrown back forcefully to either side of the circle the students had formed around them. "Sirius!" A voice called out as Sirius managed to sit up, feeling rather winded as he did so. He looked up and saw Ren hurrying over to them. "Are you okay?" She asked in a hushed voice, crouching down beside him.
Sirius watched her concerned features as she studied his no doubt bloody and bruised face. She raised a hand and brushed a lock of hair from his face before gently removing his mask.
"What is the meaning of this?!" McGonagall's shrill voice was livid as she hurried into the clearing. Sirius tore his gaze from Ren's and looked around. Practically everyone was now watching the confrontation, and even the band had stopped playing. Sirius saw that Professor Mitchell was standing just behind McGonagall with his wand in hand. He had obviously been the one to split up the fight.
"It wasn't Sirius' fault Professor!" Ren suddenly exclaimed, launching up and hurrying over to McGonagall. Sirius tried to pull himself up, only to have James and Remus hurry over to help him. "Will started it! Sirius was only defending me!" Ren was saying as Sirius limped over to her.
"Vat has happened to my student?!" A voice suddenly roared, and Sirius saw Professor Karkaroff hurrying over Will, who still hadn't even managed to get up yet.
"Will threw the first punch!" Ren repeated, and before anyone could protest Doctor Jenkinson hurried forward.
"It's true Minerva, Sirius was acting out of self-defence. And even when he tried to put a stop to the fight and help the other boy up he just carried on fighting." She explained, and Sirius hot her a grateful look.
"Well whatever I must ask you both to leave immediately! I will decide upon the repercussions in the morning." McGonagall said.
Sirius could live with that. He didn't regret his actions in the slightest so if he had to leave then so be it. He turned on his heel before anyone could stop him and began to weave his way through the crowd and back to their table in order to pick up his jacket which was draped over the back of his chair. When he reached the table he picked up the jacket and hooked it over his shoulder and then headed for the exit.
"Sirius wait!"
He stopped in his tracks and turned to see Ren darting around the tables in his direction. When she passed their table she grabbed her shoes and then ran to catch up with him. "You're not leaving me here on my own." She said as she reached him, slowing to a walk.
"You wouldn't be on your own. The others would be with you." Sirius pointed out.
"Fine, I'm not exactly in the party mood after that… plus I did punch Will as well so it's only fair that I leave too." Ren said, and Sirius chuckled.
"And what a punch it was!" He said, and Ren joined in laughing.
"He had it coming."
-x-
"Okay, hold still."
"Ow!"
"Oh, don't be such a baby."
Sirius scowled at Ren, who was sat before him on one of the beds in the Hospital Wing with a bowl of water in her lap and a damp cloth in her hand. She had managed to convince him to take a trip to the Infirmary in order to get his injuries checked out, and Sirius, being the mature eighteen year old he was, had dragged his feet and complained the whole way there.
He didn't need to be checked, he felt fine! A little sore but fine none the less! Still, it was nice that Ren cared. Upon arrival Madame Pomfrey had rushed over to him and demanded that he explain what had happened, however when Sirius had finished reciting what had happened the Matron had started to scold him for getting into a fight!
Sirius had failed to see how that was fair, but he had sat quietly as the Medi-Witch checked him over in order to avoid being told off further. When she had finished and informed him that nothing was broken, Madame Pomfrey had brought in a bowl and cloth and told him to clean himself up which she went up to the West Wing (where the guests were staying) to see to Will.
So Sirius had begun to dap at his face, but Ren, who had been sitting on the bed next to his, had become irritated when he had started to whine that it hurt and had taken over, moving to sit on the same bed as him.
He let out a huff as Ren wrung out the cloth before bringing it to his face again. They sat in a comfortable silence as Ren worked, and when she came to cleaning around his split lip Sirius felt his pulse quicken. "Thank you, by the way." Ren suddenly said quietly, and Sirius shrugged.
"He deserved it." He said. Ren's dabbing slowed.
"Still…" She murmured. Suddenly she leaned forward and gave Sirius a quick peck on the lips, and although Sirius' initial reaction was shock, he couldn't help but wince in pain at the pressure on his bruised lips. "Oh God I'm sorry, I forgot!" Ren rambled, a blush erupting on her cheeks.
"Hey," Sirius cooed. "It's okay." He stared at her until she brought her dark chocolate eyes up to meet his. She was still wearing the black lace mask, and Sirius couldn't help but reach around and untie it. He pulled it off her, all while keeping eye contact. "Ren…" Sirius felt a sudden surge of courage. "I-" However Madame Pomfrey happened to choose that exact moment to come bustling back into the Hospital Wing, causing Ren and Sirius to spring apart.
"Well he was certainly in worse condition then you Mister Black. A broken nose, split eyebrow and a black eye as well as all the bruising." The Matron was saying.
"Erm, the black eye may have been down to me." Ren said sheepishly, and Madame Pomfrey stared at her before letting out an irksome sigh.
"I don't even have the energy to tell you off." She said. "Now Mister Black-" She turned back to Sirius. "-I would like you to stay here tonight so I can check up on your injuries tomorrow morning." Sirius couldn't help but let out a little groan of protest before agreeing. "And Miss Gallagher, would you mind heading back to the ball now?"
"Hm? Oh yeah, sure." Ren answered, flashing a glance at Sirius before rising from the bed. "Erm, I'll see you later I guess." She murmured under Madame Pomfrey's watchful eye. "Bye." She said before turning and making her way out of the Wing.
Sirius wanted to call for her to stop, to come back and lie in his arms for the rest of the night, but he couldn't. He couldn't bring himself to say anything. He was in shock over the fact that he had very nearly revealed his feelings for her! He had been only a breath away from telling her!
Maybe it was a good thing that Madame Pomfrey had walked in. There was no way of knowing how Ren may have reacted, and he didn't want to risk his friendship with her again. He couldn't slip like that again, he would have to keep his feelings hidden for now.
-x-
"Sirius?"
Sirius grumbled and rolled over. He was fast asleep in the Hospital Wing dreaming of flying motorbikes when he heard someone call his name. "Sirius!" The voice said again, louder this time. Sirius let out a growl of irritation before rolling over.
"What?" He asked, the haziness in his voice cancelling out the anger, but when he opened his eyes and saw Ren standing beside his bed he sat straight up. "Ren!" He exclaimed, momentarily forgetting that Madame Pomfrey was asleep just beyond her office. "What are you doing here?" He asked, this time in a whisper.
"I thought you'd like some company." Ren explained quietly, and Sirius studied her. She was wearing patchwork pyjama bottoms teamed with a dark blue jumper that had a white pattern knitted into it. On her feet were a pair of pink fluffy socks and her hair hung down her back in a loose plait.
Sirius felt his stomach flutter at the thought of Ren sneaking out just to see him. He smiled.
"Yeah sure, but how did you get here without getting caught?" He asked, and Ren held up what Sirius recognized to be James' invisibility cloak.
"James leant me this." She said, and Sirius reminded himself to thank James when he next saw him. "So do you want the company or not?" He nodded. "Alright, budge up then."
He immediately did as instructed, and Ren pulled back the cover and climbed in beside Sirius. Taking into account that it was only a single bed Sirius turned onto his side and Ren did the same. He found himself almost face to face with her, and even in the semi-darkness he could make out her make up free perfectly.
"This is cosy." He whispered, and Ren giggled.
"It is indeed." She agreed. "What time does Madame Pomfrey wake up?" She murmured, closing her eyes.
"Half seven." Sirius answered, not taking his eyes off her.
"Mmmm, I'll have to be gone by then." Ren sounded drowsy, and Sirius turned his head to glance up at the clock on the wall. One in the morning. They had six and a half hours alone together.
"Okay." Sirius whispered, turning back to her.
"Night night Sirius." Ren practically purred, only seconds away from sleep.
"Night Ren." He said back.
"Sweet dreams." She hummed before drifting off into unconsciousness.
'With you, always.' Sirius thought.
I see you made it to the end, well done! I just got a bit carried away ;)
Okay funny story time, I was nearly killed by the lovely Dreaming Of Africa while writing the end of this chapter! When I read out the part where Sirius almost confessed his feelings to Ren and Madame Pomfrey interrupted them, she threw a HUGE tantrum, which included her throwing all my books off the table, saying she hoped Sherlock got cancelled, and throwing a foamy banana sweet at me. She then disowned me as a friend for five minutes before demanding that I make it better, so that last little bit at the end was only there because of her.
Anyways, please please PLEASE review! I love hearing your feedback, seriously it's like a drug! Let me know if it was worth me almost dying.
Thanks again for reading and sorry for any mistakes.
Evie x