Chapter 50
Rochelle fisted her hands in Sirius' hair as he kissed her hard, pushing her against the door. They were completely tangled up in each other, and Rochelle couldn't stop the racing of her heart. It almost felt too good to be true. Sirius' warm lips were just placing butterfly kisses along her jaw, when they heard the someone bang the door.
"Sirius?' James Potter's voice called loudly, from the other side. "Sirius, are you in there? Is Rochelle safe? You hung up on me before I could ask you anything!"
Rochelle reluctantly removed her arms from around Sirius, and smiled at the annoyed expression on his face. He sighed, and kissed Rochelle on the forehead. "You should go inside. He'll ask questions, and you look like a mess."
Rochelle nodded, and quickly slid into her own room as Sirius opened the front door to let James in. She could hear the faint noises of James asking Sirius why his house keys were lying on the floor, before she shut her own door, and then leaned against it, closing her eyes.
She couldn't believe what had happened; after the way he'd behaved, she'd been almost certain that he would never forgive her again. Rochelle couldn't resist her lips turning up into a small smile. Her heartbeat took a few moments to slow down. Once it did, she pushed herself away from the wall and glanced towards the box lying on her bed. Her heart sank a tiny bit.
Going to the Ministry alone hadn't been easy, but she knew that she had to do it. She owed it to her parents to see what they'd left her, and to be honest, she needed the money. She couldn't live off Sirius and the Potters forever. A kind middle-aged man had greeted her when she'd arrived, and helped her get to the right department. When she entered the room where the items of the will were kept, she froze almost immediately.
Lucius Malfoy had been standing there, talking to another Ministry employee. He didn't notice her at first; but when he did, his eyes narrowed. He'd shot her a dirty look, as he pushed past her.
"Having fun being the blood traitor's whore?" he'd hissed. "Don't worry, we're not disappointed. That would mean that we expected more from you, which we didn't. I suppose you're glad they're dead so now you could run off and be with him."
Rochelle's eyes had widened as she realized that he was talking about her parents. Anger bubbled inside her. "How dare you suggest-"
"Don't bother. Just go take the money. That's what you came for, isn't it?" Before she could retort, he'd walked past her and exited the room quickly. Rochelle shook in silent anger until she'd realized that the kind man who'd led her here was giving her an odd look.
"Are you all right, miss?" he asked, looking concerned.
"I'm fine. May I ask what Lucius Malfoy was doing here?" she demanded.
"Your father left him a few things. Not much; I believe there was a watch, a bit of money and a few books."
Rochelle blinked. "He left something for Lucius in his will?"
The man smiled."Why, yes. I must admit, it was a very well written piece of document. We had no legal troubles with it at all, and almost everything he owned was covered. It was almost as if…" the man paused and swallowed, as he stopped himself. "But, ah, never mind. You'll want to see for yourself…."
There was nothing surprising in the will. It was a very simple, clear document that was well-drafted. Royce had been left the majority of the family fortune, but there was at least a third of it in a vault at Gringotts to which Rochelle received the key. She blinked when she saw the number. It was only a little more than she expected, but certainly a comfortable amount. She wouldn't need to work anytime in the future.
A good number of the family heirlooms had been left to Royce as well, considering that he was the only son. But Rochelle received all of her mother's and grandmother's jewellery. It was quite valuable. Rochelle had no doubt that if she had the heart to sell it all, it would triple the amount in her Gringotts vault.
The only thing that had caught her slightly by surprise was the fact that Alfred Vittori had left his house to his daughter. Why didn't he give it to Royce? she wondered. It only made sense that the male heir would have a lot more use for property than the female. Either way, the Vittori mansion was hers, not her brother's. It almost seemed like a cruel joke to Rochelle. Of course, Father. Leave me the house where you were murdered. What exactly did you expect me to do with it? She made the decision to sell it almost immediately. She certainly was never going back there, and neither would Royce. It only seemed like the obvious thing to do.
Rochelle had just sat down on the bed and opened the box, when Sirius entered the room. He closed the door behind him quietly, and then smiled. "Well, I got rid of James, but he says he's coming over later tonight. So are Remus and Peter. You don't mind, do you?"
Rochelle shrugged. "Well, that depends. Are they staying for dinner, and can I cook?"
Sirius raised an eyebrow. There was a hint of a smile on his face."I don't know. Can you?"
Rochelle narrowed her eyes at him playfully. "Shut up. The least you can do is have faith in my cooking skills. It's not as though you have any. I found cockroaches in the space under the oven when I was cleaning there this morning."
"And you didn't scream?" Sirius teased.
"I did, you were just too dead to the world to hear me. They're still there, by the way. I suggest you go get rid of them before I start baking or you'll be hearing a lot more screams."
Sirius laughed. "I'll see what I can do." He paused for moment, and then his eyes landed on the cardboard box on her bed. "Erm…what did they leave you?"
"Mostly mother's jewellery," Rochelle replied. She opened the box to reveal smaller boxes, each one containing a precious ornament. "A vault at Gringotts. And the mansion. I'm going to sell it. I don't think I could set foot in that house again without… you know. Remembering what happened to them. That's why I was going to the Daily Prophet office, to put an ad in the paper."
Sirius nodded. "Well, if you're sure… I can take care of that for you, don't worry. The last thing you want to do is set foot in that office. They'll be clamoring all over you for an interview and asking about your brother and why you accused You-Know-Who."
"I hadn't thought of that," Rochelle mumbled. "Thank you."
Sirius sat down on the bed beside her, and took her hands into his. Rochelle looked up at him, surprised. "Rochelle, I think we should talk."
"About what?"
"About everything," he admitted, with a sigh. "About why you left, and what happened after that. We don't have to do it now, but once you're up to it… I want to hear it all from you. I mean, if we're really going to do this, I want us to be completely honest with each other. No surprises."
Rochelle smiled, and nodded. "Of course. But first, you're going to clean the cockroaches out from under the oven so that I can start preparing for dinner tonight."
Sirius groaned. 'Do I have to?"
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When Peter Pettigrew entered Sirius' apartment later that evening, he stopped abruptly at the door. His eyes widened as he looked around. "I think I'm in the wrong place. Sorry…" he muttered, turning around to leave. Sirius rolled his eyes and yanked him back inside before closing the door.
"Very funny, Peter. Shut up, and go sit down."
"Well, it's not his fault, Sirius," James put in, with a smile. He was lounging on the sofa, a bottle of Firewhisky in his hands. "You have to admit, this place looked like a pigsty before Rochelle worked her magic on it."
Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Well, that never stopped you from coming over before, Prongs."
"I come over here because you always have plenty of Firewhisky, and Lily won't let me keep more than two bottles in the house at once because she thinks I'll get drunk. I hate to break it to you mate, but none of us ever came here for the ambience."
Peter sat down and helped himself to a glass of drink, while Sirius plopped down on an armchair. "All right, I spent my afternoon cleaning out cockroaches from under the oven. Don't antagonize me now, or you'll regret it."
James shrugged, before clapping Pettigrew on the back. "So, how was your Mum's, Wormtail? We haven't seen you in a while."
"It was my Mum's, how do you bloody think it was? I'm not going back there until next Christmas, I can promise you that," Peter replied simply. "Her cooking is awful. Speaking of which, something smells amazing in the kitchen."
Sirius smiled. "That's Lily and Rochelle making dinner. I told Rochelle we could just order out, but she wanted to cook for some reason. Of course, I wouldn't get my hopes up too high. She almost set the fire alarm off twice. The microwave's busted; we've got it running on magic now because Rochelle put a metal dish inside."
"Well, you can't blame her. I don't suppose she's used to Muggle technology."
Sirius shrugged. There was a pleasant silence as all three of them drank their Firewhisky, and the front door opened once more. Remus Lupin stepped inside. He closed the door behind him, and turned to his friends.
"Don't tell me you've finished all the Firewhisky without me," he joked. "Sirius, I swear, you spend more money on alcohol than you do on your rent."
Sirius shrugged, just as another aromatic smell wafted out of the kitchen. He inhaled deeply and sighed. Putting down his glass, he smiled at Remus. "Well, make yourself comfortable, mate. I'm going to go see if they need someone to taste the dishes in the kitchen…"
James and Peter laughed, as Sirius quickly entered the kitchen. Rochelle was standing alone by the stove, stirring something in a small pot that smelled heavenly. He quietly walked up behind her, and slipped his arms around her waist. Rochelle stiffened, but she relaxed when she heard Sirius' voice in her ear. "How much longer? You're killing me here, I'm starving."
Rochelle leaned back into him. She enjoyed the feeling of his strong arms around her, holding her tightly. She turned her head back, and smiled. "Lily just went out because we didn't have any cinnamon. She should be back any minute, and we'll plate everything up."
Sirius nodded, tilting his head so that he could press his lips to the back of her neck. She shivered slightly in response, and he tightened his grip around her. "How much longer do we have until she gets back?" he asked, his warm breath tingling her skin. Rochelle rolled her eyes.
"About five minutes. Now if you want to make yourself useful, you can taste the sauce and tell me if there's enough salt in it," she replied, handing him a spoon. Sirius shrugged, and licked some of the thick red liquid off the spoon. He frowned at her.
"Rochelle, you can't serve this to my mates."
Rochelle's eyes widened in disappointment. "What? Why not? I've been working on that for so long, what's wrong with it?"
"What's wrong with it is that if they eat this now, we'll never get rid of them. They'll want to come over for dinner every night, and I don't particularly like sharing you or your cooking," Sirius replied cheekily. Rochelle swatted him with an oven mitt, looking relieved.
"You arsehole! You scared me for a minute!" she scolded him, unable to resist a smile. Sirius wrapped his arms around her again, pulling her closer to him. He turned her head so that her cheerful blue-grey eyes were looking straight into his. "What?" she asked him softly.
Sirius smiled."I just haven't seen you look so happy in a long time. It's nice," he admitted. He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers softly, as she dropped the oven mitt and reached up to grasp his shoulders so that she could keep her balance. Her heartbeat sped up, and Rochelle remembered how much she'd missed him, and the way he'd kiss her at the most unexpected times.
There was a loud pop in the kitchen. Sirius didn't pull away from Rochelle but she shoved him off, cheeks flushing red as she saw that Lily Evans had apparated into the room, and had her eyebrows raised. "Well, well, look at you two. Couldn't control yourselves until you were alone?" she teased, setting down a plastic bag with groceries on the counter.
"We were alone," Sirius pointed out. "It's not my fault you apparated in without knocking."
"It's a kitchen, not a bedroom," Lily retorted. "But clearly, you two don't seem to know the difference. Go on, Sirius, shoo."
Sirius frowned at Lily. "You can't shoo me out of my own kitchen!"
Rochelle smiled. "She's shooing you out of my kitchen, because I live here too, and I've done more cooking here in one day than you've done in a year. Come on; otherwise I'll never get dinner ready."
Sirius shrugged, leaning down to press his lips to Rochelle's hair once, before pulling away. "Fine. I'll go tell everyone dinner's almost ready."
Lily nodded. "And you can also get rid of the Firewhisky before I come out there and see it. I refuse to let you get my husband drunk again, you're a terrible influence on him."
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Women."
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"No! That was Flynn Davis? I always thought it was James, that's why I hated him so much!" Lily Evans admitted, with a laugh. She was sitting on the sofa, leaning her head against her husband, who was giving her a slightly offended look.
"What does that mean? Did you really think I would have ten jumbo-sized boxes of chocolate frogs delivered to you in the middle of the common room?" James asked incredulously. "That's the most absurd thing I've ever heard. I know that you hate chocolate frogs, I would have had the sense to send cauldron cakes instead."
Everyone laughed, and Rochelle couldn't resist the giggles that came tumbling out if her mouth. She was slightly drunk; Sirius had talked her into having a glass or two of Firewhisky, though she hadn't had anywhere near as much as everyone else. But it till felt nice; to be sitting in Sirius' living room, curled up beside him, with friends. It was almost as if the world outside didn't exist.
"Hold on," Lily muttered, once the laughter had stopped. "So if you didn't send me the chocolate frogs, what did you do for me on Valentine's Day in fifth year?"
There was a short silence, before Remus burst out laughing. James looked embarrassed, and he glared at his friend.
"Shut it, Moony. We promised never to talk about that!" he hissed. Lily was looking even more curious, and she poked Remus impatiently.
"No, Remus, tell me!"
"Can't," Remus admitted, with a smile. "He did make me promise."
"Remus, please!" Lily insisted, but Remus shook his head. Rochelle smiled, and set her glass down on the table, before shooting Lily a reassuring look.
"Don't worry, Lily. I'll get it out of them," Rochelle promised, before turning to look at Sirius. He had a knowing glint in his eyes, and Rochelle gently reached her hand up to brush his cheek before batting her eyelashes at him, flirtatiously. "Sirius? Darling, you'll tell us, won't you?"
Sirius froze, as he felt her soft fingertips brush gently across his jawline and neck. He resisted the urge to groan out loud. "Bloody hell, Rochelle. Don't do this to me; I'm drunk."
"I know, sweetheart, which is why it would be easier for you if you just told us." Her hand drifted slowly down to his shoulders, where she began to softly massage his muscles. "Please, Sirius?"
Sirius sighed, and gently pushed her arm away from him, before glancing at James. "Fine. I have to do this; sorry mate, I hope you understand."
"I will never forgive you," James muttered, but Sirius had already begun speaking.
"Well, James wrote this bloody poem the night before, and he planned to fly his broom to Lily's dorm window and… what was the word you used, mate? I believe it was serenade Lily. Anyway, he flew up there and the lights in the dorm were off, but he saw Lily sleeping in her bed. So he started reading out his stupid poem, and confessed his love and everything. Except, except when the figure in the bed got up…"
There was a pause, as Sirius tried to control his laughter. Rochelle and Lily were watching him eagerly, while James attempted to hide his embarrassment. "It turned out that James had gone to the wrong dorm and confessed his love to Alice Jones! And she went and told Frank Longbottom, who was a seventh year, then and… well, I'll just say that he got a well-deserved thrashing from him!"
Rochelle and Lily both laughed, while James ducked his head in embarrassment. He was a little relieved, however, when Lily leaned closer to him and pinched his cheeks. "Oh, you sweetheart! I had no idea that you got a thrashing from Frank because of me!"
There was a pleasant silence, and Sirius apprehended the empty bottle of Firewhisky that was lying on the table. He frowned at it. "Well, should I get another one, then? I'm sure we've got more in the fridge."
Lily shook her head. "No, it's getting late, we should go. None of us will be able to get up in the morning, otherwise. Come on, James."
James nodded, getting up before he spotted Peter Pettigrew sprawled out on the couch, dead to the world. He'd passed out nearly an hour ago. "What about him, then? I don't fancy being the one to wake him up."
Sirius smiled, as he saw Peter snoring lightly. "Eh, leave him there. It's not like he hasn't slept on the couch before. I doubt a banshee could wake him up now."
James nodded, as he, Lily and Remus said their goodbyes and slowly left the apartment. Sirius closed the door after them and turned back to see Rochelle staring at Peter uncomfortably. "What's wrong?" he asked her.
"Well, that sofa looks like it's going to give him a backache," she admitted. "I certainly wouldn't want to be sleeping on it. If you can levitate him, I don't mind giving him my room for tonight."
Sirius smiled at her cheekily. "Oh, really? And is that out of compassion for dear Peter here, or because you want to sleep in my bed, tonight?"
Rochelle rolled her eyes. "Oh no, you've caught me. Whatever will I do now that you've discovered my ulterior motives?"
"All right," Sirius replied, with a laugh. "Go get some sleep. I'll levitate him."
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A/N – My 50th chapter! Whew, I never thought I would stick with this story for so long! Thanks to all my loyal readers!
Sorry this one took a while. I've been busy. But this is the first relatively happy chapter in a while, so i hope you guys enjoy it. I was getting a little tired of all the doom and gloom myself. No worries, though. That doesn't mean it's going to get boring. I have drama lined up! But I would still love suggestions from you guys.
And a quick thought- anyone know what Albus Dumbledore's patronus was? I can't seem to find the information anywhere...
Oh, and Merry Christmas! Think of this chapter as my Christmas present to you. And If you're feeling guilty that you didn't get ME anything, you can always leave a review! ;)
