Chapter Title from "Rhiannon" by Fleetwood Mac. Rating MA - smut warning.
Over a week had flown past since Rhiannon's arrival to London. Grimmauld Place had been a whirlwind of activity, with Order members coming and going, and Molly and Arthur working diligently on their remodeling of the house, with their children visiting periodically. Her head was chocked full of names and backstories, little facts like Ginny's crush on Harry Potter, for which her family teased her mercilessly, to big facts like Remus's monthly transformation into a werewolf, which required isolation and the brewing of the incredibly complex Wolfsbane potion by Severus Snape.
"Will Professor Snape be returning here to administer the potion?" she asked Remus, her interest less thinly veiled than she liked. The quiet, perceptive professor caught on to her question immediately, and she remembered his comment days earlier as to her flirtatiousness. She could feel a slight air of judgment wafting in her direction.
Remus paused and glanced at Sirius, who was busy fiddling with an old music box Molly had found and hadn't seemed to hear. "That is usually the plan when school is not in session, yes. But perhaps this time I should go to Snape instead?" Remus was still looking at Sirius for a reaction, but Sirius was oblivious.
"This thing has some sort of enchantment, if I can just get the damn thing to open," he mused, turning it every which way and flicking his wand unsuccessfully.
"It's ok, Sirius, I don't have to see it," Rhiannon assured him, affectionately rubbing his leg. She had noticed that each time they all gathered at the long dining table, his chair inched closer to hers. It probably looked rather silly to the others, with all that space at the table and the two of them essentially sharing a seat. They all reacted to the pair with a mix of knowing smiles and snickers that were slowly giving way to sly jokes, especially on the part of Fred and George Weasley.
"You know, Mum, Hermione is going to be here in a couple weeks," George piped up. "When is Rhiannon going to move in with Sirius so Hermione can have a place to sleep?"
Ron snorted so hard that pumpkin juice came flying across the table.
"Oh, never mind, 'Mione can just sleep in Ron's room," Fred quipped with a grin.
Sirius finally put down the music box. "Very funny, you two. Why don't you get your minds out of the gutter and do something useful. Buckbeak needs his dinner. Rhiannon, some fresh air?" He stood and offered his arm, which she accepted with a quick nod to the others.
The two of them made their way to the garden, which had become their spot to find refuge when the crowds inside became too much. It was a lively group— a happy, loving family all united around a common purpose with a great collection of sharp minds and hilarious wit. Rhiannon loved being a part of it. But she also loved her moments alone with Sirius. He was full of stories of his Hogwarts days with his best friends and their wild adventures. He became so animated when he told them, it was like his heart and mind were still there, trapped in a time capsule of youth and freedom before their world became so dark.
She in turn told him of her time at Ilvermorny, surprised how little the British wizarding world knew of the school across the pond. She told him of the trips the fifth year students took to explore the origins of their respective houses. Being a Thunderbird, hers was to the desert southwest, where she explored the Grand Canyon, rafted down a river, rode horses, and learned about the magical traditions that were born there in the painted desert lands. She and Sirius bonded almost instantly with their shared love for adventure and exploration.
"Where shall we go when all this is said and done?" he asked her, passing by the stone bench where they normally sat and opting for a patch of well-manicured grass instead. Sirius pulled her to his side and wrapped his left arm around her, entwining his fingers with hers. The sky was still tinged with magnificent shades of orange, purple, and pink, and a hushed blue twilight had fallen over the garden. The scent of rosemary and sage filled the summer air, and the crickets had already begun to usher in the night with their song. Rhiannon felt a bit silly letting her senses overcome her this, like she was in a Muggle romance novel. (Yes, the term Muggle was starting to replace No-Maj in her mind, as this new reality was suddenly becoming her own.)
"India," she answered decidedly. "Or Australia. Maybe Egypt?"
"All three." The confidence of his statement seemed tainted with a bit of sadness. She didn't know if it was over the reality of his confinement, their slim chances of defeating her father, or something else. It seemed like there had been something hanging over their moments together this past week, and it was keeping them from getting where she wanted to go. And she did, desperately, want to go there.
Sirius had shown remarkable restraint following their brief encounter in the library, the epitome of a perfect gentleman. This past week had added the wrinkle of something darker into Rhiannon's own perception of her sexual appetites, and she wasn't sure how she felt about it. Was this insatiable need that had developed within her driven by some strong force that normal people just didn't have? A need to explore and dominate? She hated to think of herself that way, but the revelation that she was the Dark Lord's daughter was causing some unwelcome self reflection.
With Sirius it felt different though, compared to her casual affairs back home. Maybe it was being in a new country, surrounded by some of the world's most powerful wizards and witches, knowing she was finally in a place where her own magic could blossom. She heard the laughter and love that surrounded her here and she wanted to be a part of it. Something real and permanent, not a fly-by-night encounter. Her heart told her she wanted that, but then as she slept at night her dreams betrayed her. Sirius filled her thoughts during the day, but sleep brought images of dark eyes, long pale fingers beneath a Victorian cuffed sleeve, a seemingly mile-long trail of buttons...
You spent like five minutes with him, Rhiannon, and you were half-dead. She felt ridiculous and irrational whenever Snape entered her thoughts and she hated it. So she dismissed it. Whatever it all meant, the common denominator in all her confusing thoughts and desires was that she needed to get laid. And no longer by the clueless No-Maj boys in her parish back home— but by powerful wizards whose magic was in line with her own.
"So when is the big move?" she asked, her head settling against Sirius's chest. She squeezed even closer to him and breathed in the richness of his cologne. His musky smell mingled with the fresh herbs and flowers surrounding them and was about to send her over the edge.
"To Hogwarts?" Sirius frowned. "End of August, I suppose."
"Not that move, silly. The one George was talking about. To a certain room upstairs."
Rhiannon saw a sly smile spread across his lips beneath that dapper chestnut brown mustache as he gazed down at her. "As much as I would like it to, that move can't happen until the other move is canceled," he replied. "I'm trying to find a way to get Dumbledore to change his mind and let you stay here, in hopes we can see where this goes."
She abruptly sat back up. "You mean not finish school? Sirius, I have to. I'm missing two years."
"You don't have to," he pressed. "Grimmauld Place is safe, and I can teach you, with the help of the Order."
Rhiannon shook her head, disappointed their conversation had taken this turn. While she deeply wanted to explore her relationship with Sirius, cancelling Hogwarts was not part of the equation. She had been robbed of her future once, and she wasn't about to let it happen again.
"I want to go to Hogwarts, and I want to follow Dumbledore's plan," she said decisively. "But I also want you. Now, tonight. Are you making them mutually exclusive?" Her green eyes locked on his blue-gray ones and she could tell Sirius didn't want to answer. There was something he wasn't telling her, but at this moment she quite frankly didn't care.
"Gods, witch, what are you doing to me?" he finally muttered with a half grin. "I'm trying to tell you that I don't want this to be some summer fling."
"Me either, and it won't be. But it will barely be a summer fling at all if we don't get started," she teased him, her fingers boldly drifting to undo his belt.
That seemed to be all it took, for in the next moment she found herself beneath him, her golden hair sprawled across the grass and his lips locked to hers. This was so, so much better than she had hoped. Her Ilvermorny days had seen some innocent, playful making out, mostly just for the thrill of it— inexperienced fifth years not knowing what to do next. Her sexual encounters had been with No-Maj boys back home. Just physical, usually quick, casual, hardly memorable. But she'd never been intimate with a wizard. It was like magnets all over her body as Sirius touched her.
He took out his wand and set it on the grass, shrugging off his jacket. Rhiannon was in Muggle clothes— jeans and a thin cotton t-shirt, which Sirius easily pushed aside to place his hands on the skin of her back, trace up and down her sides, and tug gently at the clasp of her bra. He kissed her hungrily, his mustache and beard scratching her delightfully as his tongue probed her mouth. He tasted like firewhisky and something she couldn't describe— something that bespoke of strength and experience. Her first time not just with a wizard but with a man instead of a boy. It lit something uncontrollable within her.
"I'm going to make you so happy," he whispered in her ear, his fingers fiddling with the button of her jeans. Rhiannon quickly pulled her wand out of her pocket and cast a silencing and concealment charm around them to shield them from prying teenage eyes.
"God, Sirius," she moaned as his hand dipped below her waistband, setting her on fire as his fingers slipped into her wet folds. She buried her nose into his soft curls and kissed his neck, intoxicated by his smell and completely overtaken by the heat coursing through her.
"Do you want me?" he teased her, removing his hand from her jeans to reach back under her shirt and cup her breast. She arched against him and wrapped her legs around his waist in response.
Sirius moved up to his knees long enough to begin removing his clothes, revealing the tattoos covering his body. Rhiannon could just barely make them out in the moonlight that now fell over the garden, running her hands along them as he finished undoing his belt and his trousers. She stood and removed her own clothing quickly, and she felt his gaze roving over her as he remained on his knees.
Rhiannon barely gave him time to look at her before pushing him back onto the grass, mounting him in one swift movement. She heard him cry out her name in surprise and she clamped her mouth over his, her tongue ravaging his mouth as she rode him. He was like a lightning rod of magic filling every fiber of her being with her every movement up and down. She gasped and screamed his name, her every thought concentrated on the explosion mounting within her.
"Rhiannon, you are everything," Sirius whispered in return. "Don't leave me." She felt him stiffen as he suddenly spilled into her, his hand buried in her hair as he drew her mouth back to his. His orgasm ignited her own and she exploded into what seemed like a thousand waves of pleasure. No, she had never experienced anything like this. There, in the moonlight, she finally understood what it was like to be a witch. And she could never, ever go back.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Sirius mumbled, ransacking the potions cabinet. He had shoved every one of Snivellus's well-labeled, perfectly organized bottles aside multiple times. In his impatience one called "Wideye" dropped to the wooden floor and shattered. The rest of the house was sure to love that one wafting through the air all night.
"Kreacher!" he bellowed, even angrier than normal.
The elf arrived with gloves, a magical mop and dustpan, and his normal sour glare. "Wasting Master Snape's perfectly crafted potions. No respect. None," he muttered. He knew Kreacher hated Snape too for his mixed blood status, but the git had found some redemption with the elf due to the disgusting mark he bore on his left forearm.
Incensed, Sirius took off to the Weasley twins' bedroom and began to ransack their stores of brews and concoctions. He was grateful they were off making mischief in some other area of the house.
"What the hell are you doing?" Remus had seen him stalk by and followed him into the room with concern.
"Contraceptive...potion!" Sirius answered hoarsely. He opened a drawer and tried to ignore all the interesting tricks and toys the boys had invented, instead focusing on the prospect of a potion bottle.
Remus's face broke into a grin. "Well, congratulations, old boy! How was it?" He slapped his best friend on the back in solidarity.
Sirius straightened and just blinked at him. "Contraceptive, POTION!"
Remus startled. "Right, yes, um..."
"Would you be looking for this?" Molly entered the room, hand on her hip and a disturbed look at her teenagers' belongings being rifled through by two grown wizards. In her other hand she held up a clear vial full of the deep pink potion.
Sirius took it sheepishly. "How did you..."
"The whole house knew, what with your bellowing," she snapped. "And yes, I'm a mother of teenagers; I always have a bottle or two on hand. I just keep them hidden...to discourage," she added. "Though you will have to owl Severus straight away and tell him to replenish our stores. These are dangerous times and we cannot risk any accidents."
"Noted," Sirius grumbled. He took the vial downstairs to the room Rhiannon was sharing with Ginny, with Molly and Remus at his heels. Sirius slid it gently under Rhiannon's pillow, resisting the urge to bury his face in its sweet smell. If people weren't watching he likely would have. Good gods, he was smitten. "Molly, will you...?"
"Yes, I will tell her," the older witch sighed. "I know the two of you are dying for your locker room talk. But could you please take it somewhere a bit more discreet?"
The two men nodded like guilty teenagers and ascended the stairs to Sirius's top floor bedroom. The room was still decorated as an ode to years past, with wall to wall in Gryffindor house colors, posters of Muggle band concerts, pictures of scantily clad girls, and photographic tributes to his love for motorcycles. It seemed a fitting setting for his current youthful high, but the thought of moving Rhiannon up here with him was a bit embarrassing. He was beginning to regret the Permanent Sticking Charms he'd cast to keep his family from redecorating his room.
Sirius collapsed on the quilted duvet, running his hands through his hair with a sigh as he stared up at the ceiling. His clothes were still stuck to him with a thin layer of sweat and he was fully aware how he must smell to the wolf that sat in an armchair across the room.
"To answer your earlier question, it was...celestial." He said the first word that came to mind then realized how stupid it sounded. "I don't even think that's a word to describe sex, but it should be. Remus, I think she's...I don't know...a goddess or something."
Remus chuckled. "It's been awhile for you, my friend. I'm sure if feels that way."
Sirius sat up and shook his head. "No, it's more than that. I'm telling you, she's different. You should understand— we're both different— you and I. Special magic. She's got something too. Something I can't even describe. It's like every single damn nerve ending was electrified. And no matter how much I had her— I was there— I had her, but I still wanted more of her. The desire was so powerful it was painful. I even called out for her not to leave me, like a blithering idiot."
"Well, the desire part I can understand," his friend said wistfully, and Sirius knew exactly which witch he was referring to.
"It can work, Remus," he told his friend for what seemed the fiftieth time. "Just give her a chance."
"And have her alone every month while I go off with Snape's potion and hide from the world? No, I won't. Besides, I still think she is hung up on you."
"I don't do the cousin thing, remember? She doesn't either," Sirius reminded him, then sighed at the mention of Snape. He strode over to his desk. He needed to make Molly's request for more contraceptive potions to be delivered when the bat brought the Wolfsbane. A wicked thought entered his mind and he couldn't resist making the task a bit more entertaining.
Dearest Snivellus— It seems I have run the supply of contraceptive potions down to a critically low level in the past week. Please see to it that they are replenished upon your next visit. Yours most blissfully— Padfoot.
"You are the devil," Remus scolded him, but his friend could not hold back a snicker. Sirius summoned his snippy exotic black owl and sent the message on its merry way. If only there were a way to see the bilious expression on Snape's face when he opened it.
"Sirius, forgive me, for being so, well, serious, I suppose," Remus began. Sirius noticed his color was looking a bit gray with whatever was suddenly weighing on his mind.
"Of course, my friend."
Remus continued. "Rhiannon is the Dark Lord's daughter; as we start to love her and bring her into our family we cannot forget that fact. Have you considered that this feeling you mention, that it has a dark origin? When I was in her hometown, I was in a hotbed of ancient voodoo magic. That simply is a different realm than we deal in altogether, and with the added influence of Voldemort..."
"If this is dark magic then consider me a convert," Sirius declared. His eyes fell on his Gryffindor crest on the wall and he instantly regretted saying it.
"I know you didn't mean that," Remus corrected. "Our loyalty to the Order and to Dumbledore and to our friends comes first. And to Harry."
"I know, always," Sirius agreed. "But I think I'm in love with her, Remus. You know this was never my thing. James was the one always hung up on love. I was just busy chasing tail."
"Let's just be careful and mindful," Remus suggested. "I am beginning to hear that Voldemort is recruiting for his army again. Things are about to get very dark, and we have to keep our wits about us."
"Agreed," Sirius nodded. They both stood, and he embraced his friend with an affirmative pat on the back.
"And Sirius?" the wolf added, "Please take a shower."