AS IF WE'RE ON CHAPTER BLOODY 29! I seriously can't believe this fic has actually made it to nearly thirty chapters! I normally never commit to something for this long! I remember starting to write Perfectly Content during the 2012 olympics, so it's been going for nearly two years! I seriously can't believe that.
As per usual, thanks to those who favourited, followed and reviewed. Keep it coming guys! Love you all!
Disclaimer: I own nothing bar Ren
Perfectly Content
Chapter 29
Sirius let out a long sigh and closed his eyes. His head lolled forward until it came into contact with the study window, the cold glass cooling his forehead. Boxing Day was in full swing at Potter Manor, and while James, Lily, Remus and Peter were all sat in the downstairs family room with Mister and Mrs Potter, Sirius had excused himself in order to go and 'check that Ren's kitten was okay', when in reality he had snuck into the upstairs study that was situation directly above the Manor's main entrance.
This meant that there was a perfect view of Potter Manor's large driveway from the room's large window, so Sirius, who had sat himself on the comfy window seat, would be able to see Ren the moment she arrived. Merlin, when had he turned into such a stalker?
Sirius had been surprised by how much he had missed Ren that past week. The ache of longing to be with her seemed to echo through his very bones. With every spare moment his mind would begin to rehearse what he would say to her when she arrived at the Manor, and as the time she was due to get there drew nearer, Sirius found that time seemed to slow to such a pace that it seemed almost cruel. He had never known that missing Ren would take over almost every fiber of his very being and wring him out like a wet sponge every day leading up to Boxing Day. It was a torment he had been unprepared for.
Sirius opened his eyes and glanced at the clock on Mister Potter's desk. It was almost twenty five minutes past twelve, and Ren had said she would arrive at half past. Would she be late? Or maybe she would be slightly early? Would she apperate into the ground? No, the wards would probably prevent that.
He sat there as the minutes ticked by, head still pressed against the window and his eyes still closed. When did he let himself get so invested in a girl? He still couldn't quite believe it. To go from the person he had been just five months ago, the arrogant womanizer, to the person he was now was a drastic change, to say the least! He had never seen himself settling for one girl, but when he thought about what he wanted with Ren it didn't seem like settling at all.
He was actually in fact quite nervous to see her today. He had chosen his outfit particularly carefully that morning, eventually deciding on a pale blue shirt under a thin V-neck jumper of light grey with tight black jeans and his biker boots, slightly more smart than he would usually go for but Mrs Potter had approved when he had arrived for breakfast that morning. She had thought he had looked a damn sight smarter than James, who had a red jumper that had one of Santa's elves stitched over it. He didn't know why he was making such a fuss. It was unlikely that Ren would even notice his effort, for Merlin's sake.
Suddenly the gates at the end of Potter Manor's drive began to creak open, and through the heavy snow Sirius could make out a bright turquoise Hillman Imp beginning the long drive up to the Manor. A huge grin broke out on his face, and before he could stop himself Sirius leapt up and sprinted across the room, wrenching the door open before barrelling down the hall.
When he came to the grand staircase at the end of the landing he didn't bother slowing his pace from his sprint, instead he leapt onto one of the large wooden banisters, gave himself a push, and slid all the way down to the foyer of the Manor in less than half the time it would have taken him to walk down the stairs. This was something James and himself had always done, ever since Sirius' very first visit to Potter Manor, and Mrs Potter was yet to stop scolding them for it.
After leaping off the bannister, Sirius hurried across the entrance hall.
"'Scuse me Jeff," He said to the Manor's elderly butler, who was making his way over to the grand front door. "I got this one." He added, and Jeffrey gave him an understanding look as he retraced his steps until he had resumed his previous post by the wall.
When Sirius made it to the front door he took a deep breath. 'Here we go,' He thought to himself before taking hold of the handle and pulling the heavy door open.
He was greeted by the sight of the old car slowly pulling up in the snow, and there was Ren sat in the front passenger seat beside her Father. Sirius' heart began to beat even faster when she caught sight of him and waved. He waved back as she gave Emmett a kiss on the cheek before opening the car door and stepping out into the snow.
"Hiya!" She called out as she slammed the metal door shut and walked round to the boot. "Come and give me a hand with these presents, will you?" Sirius let out a bark of laughter as he bounded down the steps and out into the almost blizzard like snow storm.
"Hey Brown Eyes." He greeted when he reached her.
"Hey Snuffles." Ren cooed back, pulling him into a hug. Sirius couldn't help but laugh as he hugged her back.
"I haven't missed that nickname." He murmured to her. But he had missed that familiar vanilla scent that he was currently inhaling.
"Yeah right," She chuckled before pulling away and smiling up at him. She looked radiant. Her dark hair, eyes and coat stood out against the white of snow, which was getting caught in her curls as it fell. Sirius continued to watch her as she turned away and opened the car boot. She pulled out eight wrapped parcels, one by one, and handed four of them to Sirius. She then closed the boot and moved to the side of the car, to where her Father was still sat in the vehicle, window rolled down. She leant down and gave him another kiss farewell.
Before Emmett drove away he raised a hand in Sirius' direction and called out "Merry Christmas, mate", and Sirius did the same as Ren carefully made her way back over to him. "Come on them, I'm excited to see everyone!" She said.
"They're all excited to see you too. James has been practically bouncing off the walls." Sirius told her as the two of them made their way up the snowy steps. "Careful," He added when Ren slipped slightly, however she simply brushed it off and grinned at him.
"Aww, missed me that much has he?" She asked with as a smirk as Jeffrey held the door open for her. "Thank you," She said as she entered the Manor, smiling warmly at him. Sirius was surprised to see the normally stoic man smile right back her. Ren just seemed to have that kind of effect on people.
"No, he just really wants to open his presents." He replied as Jeffrey closed the door behind them.
"Oh, charming." Ren said bluntly, and Sirius chuckled.
"May I take your coat, Miss?" Jeffrey suddenly asked, and Ren turned around to face him with a slight jolt of surprise.
"Hm? Oh, yeah sure." She said, placing her pile of presents down on a side table before beginning to unbutton her navy blue swing coat. "Thank you," She said as she handed the coat over to Jeffrey. She looked casual yet elegant and girly in a burgundy skater dress, teamed perfectly with black tights and dark brown lace up boots.
"You look beautiful." Sirius couldn't help but say when Ren had picked up the pile of presents, and he was pleased to see a faint blush creep up on her cheeks when she turned back to him.
"Thanks," She said, her eyes lowered. "You don't look so bad yourself. The blue suits you, brings out your eyes." She added motioning to his shirt, and Sirius grinned. She had noticed!
"Tell me something I don't know." He joked, and Ren let out a giggle.
"Your modesty never fails to surprise me." She said, and Sirius shrugged.
"You know me, full of surprised." He said. "Right, follow me Brown Eyes." He added before beginning to lead the way to the family room. When they reached the closed door Sirius motioned for Ren to enter first, and when she did she was greeted by cries of "Ren!" and everyone bounding over to greet her, wish her a happy Christmas and give her a hug. After Ren had been introduced to Mister Potter and reacquainted with Mrs Potter, the teenagers all gathered around the fireplace with their presents sat before them and the gift giving began.
James kicked off the procession by giving everyone a hideous (in Sirius' opinion anyway) knitted Christmas jumper. He then forced everyone to put them on, saying that if they didn't then they wouldn't receive their second present. Sirius very nearly refused to but the large box with his name on it was simply too tempting.
So Sirius sat there with a knitted Rudolph the Reindeer over his chest while James handed out everyone's gifts. He glanced over to Ren who was sat beside him. She had now been adorned by a giant Frosty the Snowman. She had been all too eager to pull the jumper over her head, and had already taken numerous pictures of everyone in their own jumpers on her Polaroid. Sirius suddenly decided that he would wait until all of the other presents had been given out until he went upstairs and fetched the Devil Kitten. He sort of wanted to give it to her in private.
"Okay, okay," James was saying, excitedly. "You can open them… Now!"
The bespectacled boy had spared no expense on his friends. He had gotten Remus the complete collection of Shakespeare's work, Peter an engraved pen knife, Ren a ukulele, a beautiful pearl bracelet for Lily and Sirius had received a table tennis set. The moment he had unwrapped his gift James had called going in the first match against Sirius.
Next to give out their gifts was Peter, who although always gave simple gifts always knew what suited people. James received a Zonko's Deluxe Joke Set, Remus a mug that said 'Go Away, I'm Reading' on the side of it, Ren a new sketchbook and set of pencils, Lily a book called 'The Great Gatsby', and Sirius a vintage bottle of Ogden's Old Firewhisky.
"Nice one mate." Sirius said as he unwrapped the bottle. "Cheers," He said, giving good old Peter a quick hug.
Remus went next, and when he gave Ren the Quidditch tickets she let out a small cry of delight, as did James when he unwrapped a Muggle remote control car set. The werewolf had also gotten Peter a writing set consisting of fresh quills, ink and parchment (Peter was chuffed with this seeing as he was still keeping in touch with the Muggle girl from the summer, Zoe). Lily received another book, 'Anna Karenina', and Sirius an Appleby Arrows t-shirt and a saddlebag for his motorbike.
Lily was next to give out her presents. Remus got a Honeydukes voucher that would buy him enough chocolate to last him a month, Peter a new Stevie Wonder record, Ren and Sirius both got a book each. Ren 'The Hound of the Baskerville' by Arthur Conan Doyle, and Sirius 'The Beaters Bible' by Brutus Scrimgeour. Finally, James was given a Muggle board game called 'Monopoly' ("I'm regretting giving you that already." Lily had said) and a rather handsome watch.
"My turn!" Sirius decided to butt in. He leapt up and began to give out his presents. He watched his friends while they opened them, excited to see their reactions. For Lily he had chosen a book (go figure) called 'Robinson Crusoe' by a Muggle named Daniel Defoe. When she pulled the wrapping paper off the redhead let out a surprised gasp before giving him a hug, thanking him as she did so. Sirius smiled as he hugged her back. Although Lily had, to put in frankly, annoyed the shit out of him for the first five years or so at Hogwarts, the girl had really grown on him since the summer. With the arrival of Ren the Muggleborn seemed to have let her hair down, revealing a side to her that Sirius would have never suspected existed.
As well as Lily's book, Sirius had gotten Peter a brand new leather wallet that had 'Wormtail' engraved into it, a book by an anonymous werewolf called 'Hairy Snout, Human Heart' for Remus, a shaving kit for James ("For when you do actually start growing facial hair." Sirius had joked when James had opened it, causing the boy to lob a rolled up ball of wrapping paper at him) as well as a book he had found in a Muggle shop entitled 'Football for Idiots'. Sirius had thought that it was quite fitting, really. And of course, Ren had received the dainty, silver owl necklace.
Sirius watched her with bated breath as she untied the white ribbon and pulled off the pale blue tissue paper before carefully opening the box that it lay within.
"Oh… Sirius," Ren breathed when she saw the necklace. "It's beautiful." She said as she studied it. "Thank you." Sirius shrugged sheepishly.
"S'alright." He said, and suddenly he found himself engulfed in a hug from the brunette.
"I love it." She whispered into his ear. When she pulled away she was smiling up at him. "Do I have to put it on myself?" She asked him, and Sirius let out a bark of laughter.
"Wouldn't dream of it." He replied, gently taking the box out of her hand and extracting the thin chain from it. Ren shuffled around so that her back was too Sirius, and when she reached around and held her hair up so that he could reach around her slender neck, he caught a strong whiff of vanilla. He had to resist leaning in to inhale more, instead clasping the chain securely shut around her neck. Ren dropped her curls, and the avalanche of dark chocolate hair tumbled into a tousled mess down her back. She slowly turned around to meet his gaze once more. Now would be the perfect time to kiss her… he could just lean in and-
"-Come on, Coco! You're turn!"
James' loud, boisterous voice suddenly shattered the glass bubble that had seemed to have formed around Sirius and Ren, and the two of them both jumped away from each other, landing back in reality with an unpleasant thump.
Sirius quickly turned to James and scowled at him, not that he seemed to notice. He was too preoccupied with Ren, who had sprung away and started giving out her gifts. He had been leaning in to kiss her Merlin's sake! Could James have not waited another minute before opening his big mouth?! Remus, who was sat beside the infuriating elf boy, shot Sirius an apologetic look, and Sirius just shrugged, letting out a sigh. 'Oh well, better luck next time.' He thought to himself as Ren said they could all start opening their gifts. Sirius couldn't help but watch the others open their presents first.
Ren had gotten Lily a pretty new navy blue dress which the redhead seemed to love. Peter received a beanie hat and scarf, also blue but a brighter shade than Lily's dress, Remus a beautiful brown leather satchel that the werewolf was in awe of, James a Muggle cassette player with two new tapes, an Iron Maiden one and an AC/DC one, as well as an odd little multi-coloured cube Ren called a 'Rubik's Cube'. James immediately began twisting the cube, trying to aligning all the colours correctly. 'Good, that will keep him busy.' Sirius thought with a grin as he watched James' childlike manner come to the surface as he sat, cross-legged on the floor, all other presents forgotten as he tried to figure out the cube.
Sirius then finally picked up his own present and began to unwrap it. When he had pulled off the last of the paper he grinned at the matte black motorbike helmet that he held in his hands. When he turned it around to inspect it, Sirius was surprised when a beautiful pair of sleep leather bike gloves dropped out of the helmet and into his lap. He looked up at Ren, who had been watching him, and grinned even wider at her.
"Brilliant!" He exclaimed, pulling her into a hug. "Thank you." Ren chuckled.
"That's quite alright Snuffles." She said.
"Snuffles?" Remus' voice was laced with humour. "Hmm, I quite like that." When the two of them pulled away they saw the others were all grinning at them.
"Yeah same," Peter agreed. "Moony, Wormtail, Snuffles and Prongs… got a ring to it, hasn't it?" As the group murmured their agreement Sirius took a defensive step forward.
"No! Absolutely not!" He declared sternly, and Ren appeared beside him.
"Yeah! I'm the only one who can call him that!" She added.
"Yeah- wait, no!" Sirius turned to Ren. "I don't even like you calling me!" He said, and Ren pouted.
"Aww, well that's a shame because I have no plan on stopping any time soon."
-x-
When the Snuffles debate had finally been put to bed (Ren had won) the group all began to test out each other's gifts. Remus and James, who had Sirius' new helmet on his head, his messy hair poking out at the sides, were currently in the middle of an intense game of table tennis (Sirius had christened the match The Lone Wolf verses Bambi), Lily and Peter were racing James' remote controlled cars around the room, Mister Potter was tackling the Rubik's Cube, and Sirius and Ren were reclined on one of the large leather sofas, Ren with her legs stretched out over Sirius' lap as she plucked away at her new ukulele. Sirius was nursing a tumbler of Firewhisky as he commentated the table tennis game.
Ren let out a lazy giggle when James threatened to throw his paddle at Sirius if he didn't shut up, which caused Mrs Potter, who was sat beside her husband with her knitting in her lap, to scold her son and threaten to disqualify him, which promptly shut James up. Sirius smiled warmly at Ren. He loved the sound of her laugh. It seemed to sooth him into a blissful state of relaxation. However he jolted slightly when he remembered that the Devil Kitten was still alone upstairs.
"Ren?" He took hold of her legs and gently lifted them up so that he could slide off the sofa.
"Hm?" The brunettes gaze focused on him and when she saw that he was standing she pushed herself up until she was sat up straight. "Are you okay?"
"Fine, don't get up." Sirius replied just as Ren was about to stand. Her brow furrowed.
"What? Why not? Is everything okay?" She asked, concerned.
"Everything's thing, honestly. Just wait here." He instructed.
"Why?"
"Because I have to get something."
"What?" Merlin, she was full of questions!
"A present for you." He replied, and he saw Ren's brows shoot up in surprise.
"A present for… but Sirius, I already have my necklace." She said, her hand moving to brush the owl charm in indication. Sirius smiled.
"I know, but just wait here." He insisted before turning and hurrying out of the room. He shot up the stairs and hurried down the many corridors until he came to his bedroom, right opposite James'. The door was already open a jar, and when he pushed it open the rest of the way he hurried inside, not wanting to waste another second. However he stopped dead at the sight of the empty wicker basket that's door was hanging wide open.
The Devil Kitten had escaped!
"Shit!" He exclaimed before leaping into action and beginning to search the room for the little shit. Ten minutes later, however, after looking under his bed, behind the curtains, in the wardrobe, the en-suite bathroom and even through his Hogwarts trunk, there was still no sign of the kitten. "Shiiiit," Sirius sighed again as he got down on all fours in order to look under his chest of draws.
"What the bloody hell are you doing?" The sound of Remus' voice caused Sirius to jump and whack his head on the cabinet.
"Ah fuck!" He cried. He turned to Remus, who was standing in the doorway, brows furrowed in confusion, and scowled as he clutched his head. "A little warning please, Moony?" He asked in an exasperated tone, to which Remus raised a brow.
"Care to explain what you're doing Padfoot?" Was his response, and Sirius sighed.
"I got Ren a kitten and the little bastards escaped." He explained. "Fancy helping me look for it?" Another ten minutes the two of them still hadn't found the kitten. They were walking through a corridor, having finally come to the conclusion it couldn't possibly still be in Sirius' room.
"You know the chances of us finding it in a house this size are pretty slim," Remus was saying. "Our best chance would be to let it come to us seeing as-" However he never finished that sentence because just as they rounded a corner Sirius grabbed hold of him and pulled him back round, effectively slamming Remus into a wall, his arm across his chest. "Ow! What the fuck Padfoot-"
"Shh!" Sirius hushed, peering around the corner to see the innocent looking white kitten padding along down the hall, stopping to lick a paw just before another corner. "There the beast walks!" He said quietly, and Remus peeked out around the corner.
"Aww, Padfoot, it's pretty cute!" He said, and Sirius turned his head to look at his friend, eyes wide.
"It may look like a harmless ball of fluff but I swear to Merlin, Moony, the devil is within that kitten!" Remus simply stared at him, sceptically.
"I think you're exaggerating a bit, mate." He said, and at his words Sirius let out a dramatic "Pft!" turning to face Remus fully and pulling down the collars of his jumpers to reveal a series of scratches along his collar bone. Remus' eyes widened in shock as he studied the marks.
"The cat?" Remus asked, and Sirius nodded.
"So now we've established that it's evil can we please crack on?" He asked, and now Remus nodded. "Thank you. Now, follow my lead." Sirius instructed.
He peered around the corner once more before ever so slowly creeping around it and down the corridor towards the unsuspecting kitten, Remus following closely behind him. However one of them must have made a noise because suddenly the kittens' ears perked up and after turning its head and catching sight of them, it took off around the corner. Sirius let out a growl of frustration before taking off after it. "I swear to Merlin I'll turn into Padfoot in a minute. I'd like to see the little fucker outrun him!" He called out to Remus as they ran, who chuckled in response.
However as the two of them barrelled around the corner they both came to an abrupt halt. There, with a fluffy white bundle of fur in her arms, stood Ren.
"There you are!" She exclaimed when she saw Sirius, ticking the kittens' soft chin. "Where on earth did you get to? I got bored of waiting."
"I was trying to get that bloody kitten!" Sirius panted, pointing to the offending animal who had begun to chew on one of Ren's curls, however when Sirius pointed at it she let out a defensive little meow.
"Wait, this is what you went to get?" Ren suddenly asked, looking rather astonished, and Sirius nodded.
"Merry Christmas Brown Eyes." He said, burying his hands in his pockets.
"I'll leave you two to it." Remus suddenly said before quietly slipping away, heading towards the stairs. When they were completely alone Ren spoke.
"I have something else for you too." She said, and Sirius couldn't help but feel surprised. He watched as she readjusted the kitten so that she was holding her with one arm and then tucked her now free hand into the pocket of her cardigan (she had removed James' jumper and Sirius was suddenly aware that he still looked like an idiot in his) and pulled out a small square object. "Merry Christmas Sirius." She said as she handed it over.
Sirius looked at her before focusing his gaze on the object in his hand. He carefully tore off the wrapping paper, and he felt his jaw drop. He was holding his very own Zippo lighter. It was matte black and on the side it had 'Merry Christmas Sirius. Love Ren x' engraved onto it. When he looked up at Ren he saw that she was grinning at him. "I figured now you wouldn't have to carry a box of matches everywhere." She simply said as she tickled the kitten's ears.
"Thank you." He said, taking a step forward and enveloping her in a hug. However the Devil Kitten didn't seem to enjoy being squished between the two of them, so it raised a paw and swatted Sirius on the chin, causing Ren to chuckle as Sirius jumped back, rubbing his chin.
"Ow!" Sirius was really starting to dislike this cat. "Listen here mate," He began, stooping so he was eye to eye with the kitten. "I can turn into a dog, and if you don't stop scratching and meowing at me-" She meowed. "-Then I'll be all too happy to introduce you to Padfoot!" Sirius scolded. After a pause the kitten simply meowed again and reached out to bat at Sirius' hair. He let out a breath and stood up straight. "I give up." He muttered.
"Aww, Sirius. She's harmless, leave her alone." Ren said, continuing to stroke the kitten who was purring happily in her arms. "Wait, is it a girl or a boy?" She asked.
"A girl," Sirius answered, and Ren smiled.
"She needs a name." She said, to which Sirius huffed.
"I already call her the Devil Kitten." He told her.
"I was thinking something a little less offensive." Ren said defensively.
"It's a cat, it's not going to get offended!" Sirius attempted to argue, to which said cat let out a loud meow of protest. "Shut up, will you!" He tutted, which earned him another meow.
"Well maybe if you were nicer to her she'd be nicer to you in return." Ren said, and Sirius couldn't help but stare at her as if she'd grown a second head.
"Be nicer to her?! Look what she did to me!" Sirius began to show off his collar bone battle scars, but Ren simply rolled her eyes.
"It's not her fault, she's only a baby." She said, snuggling the kitten close to her.
"I'm regretting getting you that bloody thing already." Sirius murmured, miffed about the lack of sympathy he was receiving.
"Okay moving on," Ren said. "How about Maia?" She asked, and Sirius suddenly felt his frustration drain from his body. She wanted to name the kitten something which linked to memories of him! She knew that he liked that name, and it would always remind her of when she had told him the story of the Seven Sisters.
"I think Maia's actually pretty good." He admitted. "But I still prefer Devil Kitten." He added with a smirk.
"We'll go with Maia. It will be easier to fit on a collar tag." She said, and Sirius chuckled.
"If you insist." He said. Carefully, he reached out and brushed the top of Maia's head with his fingers, and he was surprised when she offered no resistance.
"See, she's not that bad." Ren reasoned.
"I suppose," He huffed. He moved his gaze from the purring Maia to Ren and watched her and she focused on the kitten. When she looked up and met his eye she gave him a soft smile.
"Thank you Sirius." She said quietly.
"No, thank you Ren." He replied, clutching the lighter in his hand.
Like it? Sorry for any mistakes. It's odd trying to write Christmas in the middle of April... PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK! I will love you forever if you do :3
Okay, I don't know how long the next chapter will take me. I need to get a new notebook for it so we'll just have to see. Thanks again for reading :)
Evie x
P.S. PLEASE REVIEW!
