Potterverse is not mine. So here's another update, out quicker than I expected mostly because I haven't done my homework yet (naughty, naughty). But I figure I have time to do that. Plus I really enjoyed this one. So thank you to everyone who has read, favorited, alerted and reviewed - I find you all highly amazing. So without further ado, here's the update. Enjoy!


Either the stress and fatigue of being in life threatening situations was finally getting to her or Sirius' reaction time was getting faster. Cummings figured it was a little bit of both as she lied there unsure where the hell she was with Sirius standing over her with copious amounts of rope. Cummings doubted they were going to play tug-of-war but she couldn't help the hope that popped up in the back of her mind.

Letting her gaze fall onto what she was uncomfortably lying on Cummings noticed that they looked suspiciously like train tracks. Then when Cummings couldn't move her legs she knew something very horrible was going on. "What in the name of Merlin's fanciful knickers are you doing?" She asked, eyes widening as she turned her attention to Sirius, who was quietly humming to himself as he continued to bind Cummings with the rope to the tracks she was on top of.

"Don't worry," He said flashing a smile at Cummings as he quickly glanced up at her before concentrating back on his work. "I saw this on the Muggle telly, you'll be fine."

The fact that Sirius was calm made Cumming's right eye twitch, she could very well die because of this! "You're tying me to train tracks Captain, TRAIN TRACKS!" She repeated loudly for emphasis just in case it had escaped his notice. Cummings tried to wiggle out of the bindings but was having little luck. She didn't even have her wand! She never did it seemed these days, Cummings had a feeling Sirius hid it somewhere just so she couldn't escape the death traps he set for her.

"Don't worry." Sirius told her unflustered. "We've got a good half hour before the train comes." He had checked the time schedule three times just to be sure, he didn't want Cummings dead.

"That's not the point." Sirius continued to tie the rope as a small silence fell between the two of them. Cummings had decided to change her tactic from screaming bloody murder that really left her throat hurting to conversing civilly. "Captain."

"Yes?" Sirius quirked an eyebrow as he replied to his suddenly calm newbie.

Taking a deep breath, Cummings replied, "I trust you. I trust you so much that if trust was gold, Gringotts wouldn't have enough storage for all my gold." Personally, Cummings thought she was quite convincing.

"Wow Cummings, that's touching." Sirius nodded as he continued to tie the last bit of rope. "Truly."

"Shouldn't that mean that you stop tying me to the train tracks?" Cummings asked watching him tie the final knot. It was obvious that Sirius was horrible at tying knots and Cummings could've used that to her advantage if there weren't so many and she could move her arms. But, alas, she was securely tied down.

"No."

"WHAT, WHY NOT?" Cummings yelled outraged. This was unfair; she had plainly stated that she trusted him. Injustice thy name is Sirius Black!

"You're just saying you trust me so I won't tie you." Sirius said standing up and looking down at the rope making sure it was snugly bound around the tracks and Cummings. The angry look fell from her face; obviously she wasn't as good of an actress as she thought she had been. Or maybe Sirius could read her mind! …She probably wasn't the best actress.

"Bugger," muttered Cummings

"There! All finished." Sirius smiled after making sure the last knot was tight. With all his different experiences with rope – and there had been a fair few, besides all the other times he had tied Cummings – Sirius was quite proud of this one. Those knots looked quite spectacular.

"Captain?" Cummings' voice broke him out of his admiration. He sighed exasperatedly, when was she ever going to learn? He was not going to untie her until she was about to die.

"No, for the last time Cummings I'm not rescuing you until the train comes."

There was a small silence before Cummings cleared her throat awkwardly. "That's not what I wanted this time Captain."

"Oh," Sirius replied scratching the back of his head. "What is it?"

"My nose itches."

"Oh." Neither of them moved. One because she was tied to the train tracks and the other because how was he supposed to respond to that?

After another ten seconds and the power of the itch increasing Cummings broke the silence. "What, you're not even going to scratch it for me?"

"Oh, right." Sirius nodded as he bent down and scratched her nose. Cummings noticed the dirt under his fingernail but decided not to mention it. This, she suspected, was one of those time you don't look a gift Hippogriff in the mouth. "Better?" Sirius asked straightening up.

"A bit," Cummings conceded. Sure she was still bound to the train tracks, stuck there until death arrived on the wheels of a speeding locomotive but her nose didn't itch anymore so that was nice.

"Right, well I'm starving. I'll be back." Sirius grinned down on her before turning on the spot and disappearing with a crack as he disapparated. Cummings' apple green eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and instantly the fear that was kept at bay by Sirius standing there washed over her. What was this nonsense about leaving to eat?

"WHAT? CAPTAIN!" Cummings yelled out but was only met with her own voice echoing back and the squawking of a few unhappy birds she had startled out of a nearby tree. "CAPTAIN!" Cummings yelled out again but Sirius didn't respond. She lied there in the silence for ten more minutes before a whistle that sounded in the distance caught her attention. Just coming into her line of sight was a speeding black locomotive. This wasn't going to end well.

Free for the afternoon Remus walked into the kitchen at Headquarters where sat at the small table was Sirius looking as dapper as ever with a cup of tea between his hands. Next to him shaking uncontrollably, her eyes wide and staring off into the distance with her skin a good few shades paler than it usually was and her coppery-chestnut hair in a disarray Cummings sat next to Sirius, a look of fear etched surreptitiously into her facial features

"What happened to her?" Remus asked making his own cup of tea before sitting down in the vacant chair across from the black-haired wonder – more commonly known as his good mate Sirius.

Looking down disappointedly Sirius' stormy grey eyes stared into his steaming cup of golden tea. "Our training isn't working out so well." Frowning Sirius looked up across the table at Remus. "This is the longest she's ever taken."

Remus took a sip of his tea and asked, "What are you teaching her?"

"Trust," replied Sirius. At the word Cummings flinched catching Remus' eye for half a moment at her sudden movement before she resumed her catatonic state.

"Do I dare ask how and why you're teaching her that?" He questioned. Judging from Cummings' state of being Remus wasn't sure whether or not he really wanted an answer but he braced himself. Honestly, how bad could the truth be? He's known Sirius since they were eleven it was impossible to be surprised by his behavior anymore really.

"Well," Sirius started, "You know how we've got to take the newbies out with us on missions, right?

"Yes," Remus trailed off nodding.

"Trust," Cummings flinched a second time but Sirius continued on without noticing. "Is important for missions, is it not?

"It is," agreed Remus.

"You've got to trust," Cummings flinched again, "Your partner with your life, right?"

That was the third time Cummings had recoiled while Sirius talked, red flags were starting to wave. "What have you been doing?"

"Well I learned a couple weeks ago that Cummings might blindingly follow my every order but she doesn't trust me with her life, remember?" Cummings flinched a fourth time and Sirius frowned more at the news he was telling Remus, completely oblivious to the girl sitting next to him at the table. It was quite noticeable that Sirius was deeply concerned with this revelation but it didn't seem as much of a pressing matter as Cummings' welfare at the moment.

"Sirius," Remus said slowly making eye contact with the man sitting across from him. "What have you done?"

Sirius' eyebrows furrowed as his mouth pulled out of the frown and pressed into a hard line as he got defensive. "Not much." He replied before uttering something so fast that Remus could've sworn he was speaking a different language altogether.

"What was that?" Remus quirked an eyebrow with a mature air about him in a way that made Sirius feel as if he was seven years old all over again and being scolded for dunking Regulus' head in the punch bowl at one of their parents' fancy pureblood parties.

Sirius sighed and rolled his eyes as if it was Remus' fault that he hadn't heard him correctly. "I've been putting her in life threatening situations and saving her at the last moment to prove that she can trust," Cummings flinched, "Me. That she's safe with me."

Slowly Remus asked, "Life threatening how?"

"Well let's see," Sirius started holding out his hand listing off on his fingers the many different ways he had saved his newbie's life. "I've pushed her off a roof, tied her to a chair in a room I set on fire, drowned her and tied her to train tracks." After he finished listing off the perils Sirius looked back up at Remus from his hands.

It was silent for a split second as the two friends stared at each other, eyes of melted chocolate on stormy grey ones, before Remus exploded. "SIRIUS! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING DOING THAT TO THE POOR GIRL? IT'S NO WONDER SHE LOOKS LIKE SHE'S ABOUT TO KEEL OVER AND DIE!" He roared pointing over at Cummings who was still pale and catatonic.

"She doesn't," Sirius started to defend himself as he turned to look at Cummings for really the first time since he rescued her from the train tracks. It looked like Remus had a point.
"Oh, she kind of does."

"Sirius, you have to stop doing this to her. Otherwise she might end up in the mental ward at St. Mungo's."

Sirius let out a defeatist sigh; he could see Remus' point. "Fine, but how is she supposed to trust me then?"

"Trust you?" His eyebrows shot up to his hairline and his eyes widened slightly. "It's a miracle she can be in the same hemisphere as you!" Sirius thought Remus was being a little bit overdramatic. It's not like there any lasting damage, Cummings was just shaken.

In the hall on the other side of the kitchen door someone let out an excited train whistle-like, "WOOOO!" and if possible Cummings' apple green eyes widened even more as she yelled out, "Train!" and ducked under the table like her life depended on it.

Just then James burst into the room with a loud, "YEAH!" Sirius and Remus stared at their mate that was grinning like a fool, his hazel eyes alight with a new spark behind his glasses and his jet black hair more mussed than usual. "You are looking at a man now engaged to the loveliest woman on the planet." Identical smiles found their way onto Sirius and Remus' faces as James continued on dramatically walking farther into the room. "Her beauty surpasses all others, her charm is undeniable and—and…" James trailed off as he noticed the girl under the table clutching one of its legs as if her life depended on it. "Why is Cummings under the table?"