Giselle had never been this nervous before.
Well, no, that's a lie - her first day at Beauxbatons was the most nerve-wracking day of her life, the judgemental glares from the French students at the Parisian coach station when her father dropped her off were enough to make her shake like the ground was about to crumble beneath her - but when she woke up the morning after the boozy gathering for Mary her whole world was quaking, her heavy breath got stuck in her chest and she knew it wasn't from her hangover. She didn't remember passing out, she fought the sleepy allure of the whiskey in her veins and strained her ears for sounds of angry stamps up the stairs for hours but before she knew it she blinked and sunlight illuminated the dormitory, the warm red glow consuming Giselle in her sweaty curtained pit of anxiety.
Has Sirius broken up with Marlene yet? Was Marlene in her bed, mere inches away, waiting to confront her for stealing her boyfriend? Did Sirius mention why he was breaking up with her? Was Marlene ok? Did Marlene hate her? The questions raced through her delicate mind but its speed exacerbated her thumping headache and she couldn't suffer in her sweltering cocoon any longer. She didn't want to crawl out of bed and face the possibility that she would be screamed at, but her tongue felt rougher than sandpaper and her body yearned for cold water so she squeezed her eyes shut and yanked the curtains back, bracing for impact - it never came.
The dorm was empty, Lily and Marlene never made it back. The world outside of Giselle's bed was quieter than she predicted for a lazy Sunday but it settled her nerves and gave her enough reassurance to start her day. She had time to think, to prepare what she was going to say to Marlene if she ran into her, and if she could help it she prayed that she would survive the whole day without seeing anyone. She was supposed to have Quidditch practice but James had cancelled it, her father announced during the memorial that Dumbledore agreed to axe the Cup Final, the chances of there being another attack was too high for the Ministry to risk and they weren't feeling particularly lucky when Hogwarts was concerned, but Giselle knew deep down Barty wanted to cancel the match to spite her. She never gave him the satisfaction of seeing her react to his unnecessary decision, she refused to wince as her dream of winning the Quidditch Cup one last time shredded into pieces before her eyes but watching James wordlessly cycle through a multitude of intense emotions behind her father's back helped her process the news. There's only a few weeks left, and then he has no influence over me. I can do this.
Giselle showered off the sticky layer of sour perspiration, shoved on a baggy ochre summer dress and the biggest pair of sunglasses she owned to hide last night's mistakes, and with her book bag in tow she forced herself to leave the Gryffindor Tower and hunt down something sugary to feed the pissed off hungover beast growling in her stomach. Judging by the packed common room Giselle hazarded a guess that breakfast ended a while ago but she instinctively ducked down and snuck out anyway, blocking out the chatter that followed in case Marlene or Sirius was in the room. She highly doubted it, but she didn't want to take the risk. The absence of the other seventh-years in the tower played with her nerves but she mentally shoved away her curiosity before it stirred her butterflies.
It's fine, stop panicking! The others are probably studying, they've got bigger things to worry about right now, her subconscious tutted wearily, you're too hungover for this.
In the hopes that her instincts were wrong, Giselle poked her head inside the Great Hall and slumped against the door when she noticed the tables were sparklingly clean and foodless, the ravenous beast was sorely disappointed and she clutched her stomach as it growled at her for its mistreatment. She thought about visiting the kitchens to steal as many chocolate croissants as her book bag could hold but fear punched her in the gut, relaying the chances of coming across the broken couple in a fretful whisper, and she knew she had to source her breakfast from somewhere else… They had to be down there, she couldn't interrupt them.
Another stomach rumble nudged Giselle into action and she marched towards the groundskeeper's hut as she scrambled around for ideas. Hagrid always had tea and cake.
Giselle's wasn't entirely sure whether the groundskeeper Hagrid liked her or not, she assumed he wasn't a fan of her since the only times they interacted was when he chased her out of the forest or away from the animal pens, but Hagrid was extremely fond of the Head Boy and Girl so she knew he wouldn't turn her away, he was too kind. She fixed her face into a more friendlier expression as she reached the dry pumpkin patch and slowed her steps once she realised the front door to his hut was already open.
"Hello? Hagrid?" Giselle called out with a gentle knock on the door, and Hagrid poked his head out from under his kitchen table, rather startled by her appearance.
"Oh! Nice ter see yeh, Giselle," he said merrily, brushing his dusty hands on his moleskin vest, "what can I do fer yeh?" His hut blossomed with life, a few chirping birds pecked at the beams above their heads, chipped pots full of creeping vines and sunburst orange flowers were crammed on his kitchen table, his sink was stuffed full with Venomous Tentacula saplings and, to Giselle's surprise, a pair of bushy-tailed Kneazles prowled along the floor, their sapphire eyes trained on the plants in the sink. Luckily they didn't mind the new arrival, the Tentacula plant was by far more interesting than a human.
"Should I ask or-," Giselle scoffed, amazed, but Hagrid chuckled and gestured for her to join him beside the empty hearth.
"Don' bother," he sighed, scratching his tangled beard as he gave the Kneazles a sweeping stare, "I dunno what's wrong them 'em, they keep going fer the Tentacula vines in the greenhouses, Sprouts asked me ter see if I can work out what they're after."
"Are they in heat?" wondered Giselle, dumping her bag on the floor as she sat down.
"They're not supposed ter be," mused Hagrid, eyeing them warily, "they're not due ter start breeding till August." Hagrid was fully aware of Giselle's appreciation of magical creatures from their many encounters in the forest but she felt oddly touched when he asked her opinion on the matter since he was stupendously more skilled in this area. "What do yer reckon?"
"Maybe they're starting early," wondered Giselle, "Tentacula buds secrete all kinds of nasty shit that have aphrodisiac properties, maybe they're being impatient and they just wanna, you know, get it on!" She wiggled her brows in jest.
"But they're both females," Hagrid pointed out with a wry smile, and Giselle laughed, giving him her best 'so?' look.
"Then I guess they're simply two little ladies looking for a good time! Let them have some fun, Hagrid!" she concluded, making him chuckle and the visible parts of his face flushed lightly.
"We'll see," he laughed, and he noticed that Giselle was staring longingly at the glazed carrot cake he had left out on the mantelpiece, its sweet sheen made her stomach cramps worse, "did yer come here ter raid my food?"
"Pffft," Giselle spluttered, feigning disbelief. Was it that obvious? "Maybe?"
"Lemme make yer a cuppa," smiled Hagrid with an eye roll as he ambled around his kitchen, mindful of the cats by his huge feet "yer look knackered. Long night?"
"You could say that," she mumbled, avoiding the subject altogether, "I overslept and missed breakfast, my exam anxiety has never been this bad before." That was a partial lie, she was nervous for her upcoming NEWTs but that wasn't the cause of her sleepless night, Hagrid didn't need to know that.
"And it's not because of all the alcohol yer were drinking last night?" wondered Hagrid, looking at her knowingly as he passed her a steaming mug of tea and a generous slab of carrot cake, and she hung her head in shame.
"How did you-?"
"You lot weren't very quiet last night, and I found quite a few empty beer bottles in the stands this morning, looks like yer had quite the party," he continued to laugh, but he hurried to finish his sentence when he realised how red Giselle's face had grown, "don't worry I haven't told anyone, you all deserved ter let loose a little and have fun after whats happened… and I suppose yer were also celebratin' yer good news."
Giselle finished the sticky carrot cake with one enormous chomp and met Hagrid's eye, her eyebrow arched inquisitively. "Huh?"
"A little birdie told me yer've bin invited ter the next Order meeting," Hagrid dropped his voice, occasionally glancing at the open door for any sudden eavesdroppers, and Giselle stopped chewing to gawk as she connected the dots. She didn't want to assume that Hagrid was a part of the Order in case she made a fool of herself but she smiled broadly and nodded, glad to have an insider to talk to about her offer.
"I know I shouldn't be but I'm really excited," she admitted sheepishly, "I know a few people are nervous about me possibly joining but I want assure them that accepting me won't be a mistake, and Fabian and Gideon said I was exactly the kind of person you're looking for so that should help me."
"In my opinion yer've got the skill and the guts ter join the fight, yer don't need to convince me," said Hagrid, waving his dustbin lid sized hand airily as though batting her unease away, "and I don't think yer've got ter worry about the rest of 'em coming around since yer fathers bin more than vocal about your achievements at work, if anyone objects then I'll eat my boot."
"That's sweet of you, thanks for calling them achievements," Giselle snorted, amused at the thought of Bartemius ranting about his daughter's misdeeds to his co-workers, "I seriously doubt he's been complimenting me in front of them so I can understand their apprehension."
"That doesn' matter," scoffed Hagrid, unfazed by her doubts, "once you get ter know the Order yer'll understand that there's nothing ter worry about, a few of them were there the day yer got muddled up with that giant so they know you've got the right stuff."
Giselle blushed faintly, smiling at her lap. Oh yeah…
"I suppose I'll be on giant duty if the time comes then," she half-joked, "there are worse jobs to have."
"Speakin of yer mischief," Hagrid smirked, his beard twitching as he pried into her life, "I've bin wondering how yer managed to get ahold of Ashwinder eggs at Beauxbatons, I thought they were strict with their Creature policies?" Giselle welcomed his inquiry, she wasn't afraid to flaunt her misendeavours, especially to an Order member. Surely this would count towards her application and it wouldn't hinder her, right?
"It was a breeze, I hid them in my pocket with a tricky cloaking spell and the staff were none the wiser, and the local town near Beauxbatons, Mautou, was practically an illegal beast tradesman haven, if you speak to the right person purchasing a bunch of Ashwinder eggs is easier than buying a pint," she merrily explained, her mind wandering back to the quaint terracotta town that brought her small pockets of joy during her time in France. A Butterbeer in The Three Broomsticks was great and all but nothing beat a pitcher of spicy Sangria on the rooftop terrace of Chez Gargouille whilst watching the blood orange sunset ooze over the tranquil Pyrenees mountains, surrounded by fascinating beings of all walks of life. She met two travelling beast salesmen one night at Chez Gargouille and with a naughty whisper or two and a free pitcher of Sangria they happily showed her what wares they had to offer.
"Now that sounds like my kinda holiday," whistled Hagrid, romanticising the idea of buying illegal creatures in such a place in his mind, and Giselle agreed with a dreamy nod.
"It's beautiful, and Beauxbatons isn't so bad either but it just wasn't for me," she said, and her cheeky smile returned when she thought of her old headmistress, "although I think you would love it."
Before Hagrid could ask Giselle to elaborate, they were swiftly interrupted by three extremely out of breath boys and Giselle felt her hangover increase tenfold at their appearance, the thudding in her head discombobulated her brain and she groaned, sinking further into the squashy armchair as Hagrid warmly greeted them. They've tracked me down, this can't be good…
"Giselle! What a pleasant and absolutely unexpected surprise! We were in the neighbourhood and we thought we would pop our heads in and say hello to our favourite groundskeeper and here you are! Wow, what are the chances, ey?" gasped James, looking gobsmacked as he, Remus and Peter strolled inside to escape the scorching sunny day. They looked just as exhausted as she felt but their enthusiastic grins intensified her heart palpitations again and she sat in silence, watching the trio and Hagrid as they cheerfully caught up over a quick cup of tea.
"Come across anything particularly odd or interesting in the forest lately? Any horror stories for us?" wondered Remus, furiously blowing on his scalding tea as his burnt tongue sizzled.
"Nah, nothin' as of yet," sighed Hagrid, tossing chunks of bloody raw trout to the Kneazles at their feet to distract them from the sudden increase in number of humans, "I did run into that stag an' wolf again couple weeks back and I'm still not sure if its a wolf, might've bin somethin' in the dog family but it was too dark ter tell…"
Giselle choked on her own breath, trying not to give away her disbelief as the boys encouraged Hagrid to tell the tale of his encounters with the elusive stag and wolf he had met in the Forbidden Forest, and thankfully her acting skills remained unscathed by her hangover. She gasped in all the right places as he told her that the animals only interacted with him when he offered them alcohol.
"That is peculiar," she mused, refusing to look at her elated friends as Hagrid finished his story, "I don't think I've ever heard of wild animals responding to Firewhiskey before."
"Neither have I, they definitely weren't normal," agreed Hagrid, laughing at the memory.
"Didn't one of them start walking like a human?" prompted Peter innocently, fighting a smile and James sneakily aimed a kick at his shin as he guffawed, hiding his embarrassed smile.
"Ah yeah," Hagrid chuckled heartily, "I forgot about that."
"I certainly haven't," Giselle heard Peter mutter into his teacup, too low for Hagrid's ears.
"It's a shame you didn't catch them, Hagrid," sighed Giselle, uncurling from the armchair she was stuck in, "you could've made a killing, I bet loads of people would pay to watch two animals get wasted and act like humans."
"That is absolutely barbaric, Elle! Those poor innocent creatures do not need to be paraded around and exploited for your own self-interest, you capitalist pig!" scoffed James, feigning repugnance at her suggestion.
"Wow Potter," said Giselle sadly, looking him up and down, "Lily's actually turned you into a decent human being, the old you would've jumped at the chance to make a little extra cash. Tsk tsk shame on you."
"If James is out then I'm in on this scheme, as long as the animals get paid fairly and they receive annual holiday," Remus butted in, winding James up further who was struggling not to take Giselle's remark as a compliment. She knew he was only kidding but the rosy colour in his tanned cheeks betrayed his real inclinations, in the past he may have exploited his secret Animagus form but he knew Lily would feel awfully uncomfortable with the idea.
"I dunno, I'm surprise you haven't run into them yourselves," said Hagrid as though genuinely considering Giselle's inspired business venture, "you lot know these grounds better than I do, and that's saying summat 'cus I've bin here fer decades."
"I know right!" said James incredulously, "it's a travesty, they sound like the coolest creatures on the planet - especially that stag, he sounds hot as fu-,"
"As much as I would love to talk about James' emerging attraction to animals, and I really would love that more than anything," Peter interjected with a sense of urgency, "we really need to go, duty calls."
Remus jumped up from his slouching position against the kitchen counter as though he had been electrocuted, and he caught Giselle's eye with a hesitant smile that made her stomach somersault all the way down to her toes. She knew that smile all too well and it agitated the flutters inside her - this was about Sirius. I fucking knew it!
"Sorry Elle but you're coming with us," Remus instructed her, stealing her book bag before she could protest, "we need help from a professional woman and you fit the bill."
"A professional woman?" she wondered, "is Lils unavailable?"
"Another professional woman, she's already helping, but less talking and more moving please!" James moved on quickly as he grabbed her hand and yanked her out of the hut as they wished Hagrid a good day.
"Couldn't you have dressed Remus up in drag? He's a professional woman too," moaned Giselle, scowling at the boy carrying her book bag and he glared back, swinging her purse over his shoulder with a smouldering pout.
"I already tried that, Princess," he teased, "they weren't having any of it, they couldn't handle her."
"This isn't a gender-specific task," Peter ruined their fun with an eye roll, "but we do need your help, Elle."
"I hear talking and not a lot of walking!" James quipped, forcing Giselle to jog as his strides got wider, "we're working against the clock here!"
Giselle slipped her sunglasses back on and begrudgingly let them drag her back towards the castle, fighting with her gullet to stop herself from vomiting from hangover overexertion. They refused to answer any of her questions until they breached the castle's boundaries, the dark contrast of the cooler Entrance Hall helped somewhat her nausea and she dug her heels into the floor, forcing the boys to slow down.
"Seriously, what the hell is going on?" she asked as she removed her sunglasses, using the discomfort in her gut to fuel her bitch face, and the boys swapped glances, silently urging the other to speak first.
"I know you probably want to avoid the whole situation with Sirius and Marlene, we really didn't want to get you involved buuut-," James trailed off, nudging Remus with his elbow to finish his sentence, and he did so with another huff.
"Long story short - Hogwarts house elves have gone awol, the kitchen is destroyed, and lunch is due to be served in," Remus checked his watch and his eyes widened with panicked delight, "ten minutes!"
"Help!" Peter squeaked helpfully, and Giselle blinked at them, thunderstruck.
"...What?" she gulped.
"Lily's currently trying to round up the house elves, Padfoot and Marlene's fight spooked them and they fled the kitchens, we need an extra pair of hands," James relayed quickly, his eyes constantly darting towards the archway that led towards the school's basement. She caught in immediately and her face fell.
"Are they still in the kitchens?" she blurted out, and they nodded, "aw shit." The breakup was worse than she thought and her heart panged for the boy downstairs.
"Our sentiments exactly," sighed James, running his hands through his hair in an attempt to relieve his stress, "we've tried to interrupt them but Marlene started throwing hexes at us so we left them to it, but now we're running out of time and they're gonna get caught."
"Personally I think we should let them get caught," suggested Peter with a shrug, "this is all too much and it could do them some good, a little detention never hurt anyone."
"I kinda agree because Padfoot isn't bothered but I can't see Marlene ever forgiving and forgetting about this dilemma if she receives detention for the rest of the year, she'll hold a grudge against all of us and she'll never talk to us again," Remus countered, looking out for Marlene's mental health, and Giselle nodded furiously in agreement.
"She doesn't need to be trapped in detention with Sirius, that's the last thing she needs right now," she sympathised, feeling partially responsible for her friend's heartbreak, "but I don't see how I'm supposed to help, if anything I should stay as far away from Marlene as physically possible."
"She doesn't have to know you're there," James grinned, struggling to pull his invisibility cloak out of his secretly expanded backpocket, "Worm and I are gonna go help Lily round up the elves, and Moony is going to lure them out whilst you repair the kitchen."
"Repair the-?! Fucking hell, you're not asking for much then?" spluttered Giselle, bamboozled by the vastly important job they assigned to her, but James patted her on the back and draped his cloak over her shoulders.
"I don't think so, you've got the easy job! Do you know how hard it is to lasso a house elf?" He said matter-of-factly, but before Giselle could snap back with a witty response Remus shooed his accomplices away and led Giselle towards their targets down in the basement of the castle, commencing the new plan.
"Is it really that bad?" she automatically asked once they were alone and Remus looked surprisingly pleased, side-eyeing her with a smirk.
"It looks a lot worse than it is, Marlene is taking it harder than he thought but from what I overheard he's learnt how to keep his cool and he's not raising his voice," he noted, comparing it with his own past with Sirius, "it's quite ironic actually, considering he did all the shouting when we broke up, but he's matured and I couldn't be more proud slashed envious. He's attempting to end on good terms but Marls is putting up a fight."
"But, it's possible, right? I mean you two are still best buds so there's still hope, and Marls' heart is just as big as yours so this will blow over," Giselle pointed out under her breath, trying to find a positive out of their experience, and Remus appreciated her outlook more than he let on.
"Yeah, but it will take time. She won't hate you forever," he muttered, giving her hand a squeeze as they reached the hallway crammed with nutritional paintings and Giselle took a deep breath, her eyes perpetually stuck on the picture of the bowl of fruit that had haunted her dreams. She hadn't been inside the kitchens since her fourth year, since that night, and the shivers she once felt as a fifteen year old came gushing back.
"But she does hate me. Again," she mumbled back, confirming all of her fears, and Remus's lips twitched as he gazed sadly at her.
"She won't hate you forever, Elle, you're really hard to hate," he repeated, trying to make her smile, "trust me, we've tried."
"Thanks I guess," she chuckled, dropping the petulant frown on her face, and with a heavy sigh she pulled the cloak over her head and followed Remus' careful footsteps. The painting swung open and the pair ducked inside, bracing themselves for the impending argument, but the kitchens were almost silent and Giselle accidentally bumped into Remus as he stopped without warning. He covered his misstep smoothly but Giselle didn't trust herself and she cowered into his back, obstructing her view of the room out of fear of getting caught.
"Is this it, then?" She heard Marlene croak, "you've got nothing else to say?"
"I said everything I needed to hours ago, Marls," huffed Sirius, his voice muffled by his hands, "please let me go to bed. Look, Moonys here so we really need to go-"
"But I don't believe you! Tell me the truth and then we can drop this and pretend like each other doesn't exist, I just need to know what's really been going on so I can forget all about you!" Marlene exclaimed, an octave higher than before, and Giselle felt Remus tense up as Marlene started to cry again.
"He is telling the truth, Marlene," Remus interjected with only the best intentions, "if you still want to talk then by all means continue this somewhere else, maybe the Room of Requirement, but if you don't want to get your arse handed to you by a teacher then you need to leave right now."
But Sirius needed the final word. "I don't want to talk anymore, if you don't believe me then fine, don't believe me, but please for the sake of everything that is good and holy do not take this out on Giselle-,"
Giselle's knees wobbled dangerously when she heard her name but the shrill enraged yell that exploded from Marlene sounded like nails on a chalkboard, it slashed Giselle's euphoric flutters of affection into shreds and she automatically stepped away from Remus, needing to see everything for herself.
It looked as though multiple bombs had gone off around the kitchen, the room was in complete disarray - hundreds of metal platters, goblets and pots littered the floor, splintered chunks of wood from the four damaged high tables mixed with mushy remnants of thrown food and it splattered every surface, cabinets had been knocked over and their contents lay around the fallen storage like spilt blood, the stoves along the walls slumped as though a Erumpent had run horn first along them - but Giselle had to physically clamp her hand over her mouth when she took in Sirius' appearance, too stunned to function. Damn Marlene, you really hit him where it hurts!
"You wouldn't be defending her if it wasn't true! If you had any respect for me then you wouldn't lie, own up and be a real man, don't be a fucking coward Sirius! Just admit it - you've been fucking her for months!" screamed Marlene one final time, seeing only red as she glowered at the boy sitting at the table in front of her. Her pyjamas were crumpled and stained, her sore, puffy eyes were beyond recognition and she wore the hot tears that streamed down her cheeks like battle scars. Sirius sat up straight and ran his hands through his charred, buzzed hair as though he still had his luscious long locks, deeply wounded by his ex's accusations.
"For the last time - no," Sirius droned, clearly bored of repeating himself, "and the fact you don't believe me proves to me how little respect you have for me. I care about you so much, Marls, I wouldn't fucking lie to you and I respect you enough to tell you the whole truth so that's why I brought up Elle. I haven't cheated on you with anyone."
"But the letters, Sirius, you lied about Giselle's letters!" countered Marlene, visibly shaking as her fury blew up, and Remus couldn't help himself.
"Technically he didn't lie-,"
" WHY DIDN'T HE TELL ME ABOUT THEM?! AND WHY DIDN'T SHE?! Why are you defending him? Are you still fucking Sirius too?" roared Marlene, hitting her boiling point, and Remus clutched his metaphorical pearls, speechless.
Sirius collapsed onto the table and gave up, smacking his forehead against the wooden top. "Don't start accusing Remus again! We've… been… over… this… already," he groaned after each bang, "because if I told you then you would accuse me of cheating - which you are currently doing right now - and I was internally having a mental breakdown reliving the agony I felt when she left, you know how much Elle's transfer broke me and I panicked when I read everything she sent to me… I'm only human, you can't blame me for that… I'm sorry Marlene, this doesn't mean that everything we had wasn't real, I truly do love you but more as a friend."
The pain in Sirius' crackling voice was excruciatingly apparent but Marlene didn't want to face the truth yet, she clung onto her version of events for dear life and acted in the moment. She snatched her wand from the table and turned to Remus, teeth bared and eyes lit up with brash intentions on her mind. Giselle felt her pulsating anger from across the room and she tightened her grip on James' cloak.
"Remus, do you know where Elle is?" Marlene asked in a strained tone, smiling falsely at him, and Remus blinked. Giselle's stomach lurched and she crossed her fingers, Remus wasn't the best liar.
"Uh-,"
"Marlene, don't-," Sirius interrupted, climbing to his feet, but she ignored Sirius' existence and marched past Remus with her head held high.
"If you won't tell me the truth then she will, I'll find her myself," threatened Marlene, exuberant as she channelled her anger into confidence, and she stormed out of the room without looking back, but Remus beat Sirius to the punch and he raced after the blonde, persuading her to head to bed instead of hunting Giselle down. The painting swung close and Sirius collapsed onto the bench and surrendered to his exhaustion, too drained to run after his ex and convince her not to start an unnecessary fight.
Giselle watched Sirius for a moment, unconsciously matching his slow deep breaths as he got lost in his thoughts instead of acknowledging the destruction around him, and she physically pined for him. He looked disgruntled but he had a twinkle in his eye now, he seemed more certain with himself when his eyes focused again and she couldn't stop swooning over his impromptu haircut as she crept closer. The short buzzed cut emphasised his already chiselled features; it wasn't fair that he suited the trim and she pouted, disappointed that she couldn't properly run her fingers through his hair for a while.
Sirius stopped moping and summoned himself a fresh cup of tea, needing a temporary distraction from his worries, and Giselle thanked the universe for the perfect opportunity that had just presented itself. Someone up there was watching her and laughing at the irony, and for the first time she laughed too.
"MR BLACK?!" Giselle bellowed before clamping her mouth shut and watching in delight as Sirius violently jerked and splashed hot tea down himself, bamboozled by the scream. Deja-vu struck him like a punch in the face and he instantly forgot about the growing blisters on his hands as he looked around the room with narrowed eyes and a mischievous smirk, looking very much like a hyper puppy.
"I know you're in here, Crouch," he growled playfully, daring her to show herself, and Giselle crept even closer, heart pounding like a drum, she was desperate to play with him.
"No I'm not," she teased, and the hair on her body stood to attention as he eventually tracked her down. He followed the sound of her footsteps and his smile widened when she pulled the cloak off and sat down opposite him amongst the rubble.
"How long have you been in here?" asked Sirius, a crease appearing between his brows.
"I came in with Remus, I only heard the end," Giselle confessed nervously, "are you ok?"
"I am so tired that I can't feel my eyelids," he moaned, slumping on his elbow as he gazed at her, "but apart from that I'm fine. Marls, on the other hand…"
Giselle glanced at the portrait and cringed, wondering where she was right now. "She thinks we've been hooking up?" she clarified, wanting to know the full story before Marlene's impending confrontation.
"I'm afraid so," sighed Sirius, sipping his tea before offering her some, "she thinks we fucked over Christmas break, I told her about the letters and she worked herself up into a downward spiral that I've been trying to pry her from all morning, I'm really sorry Elle I tried to resolve this as neatly as I could."
Giselle shrugged and took a large gulp of his drink, savouring the warmth that trickled into her stomach, "I appreciate it but you've never been neat, I've been expecting this so please don't worry about me."
"I'm not worried about you," he corrected her factually, "I know you can handle Marls but I wanted us to have a clean, fresh start together, for once in my life I wanted things to work out but…" Sirius gestured to the chaos around him and ruffled the remains of his hair, "surprise, surprise!"
"I think we're cursed, nothing ever goes the way we planned," said Giselle as she nibbled her lip and checked the time on Sirius' watch, "lunch is due to start now by the way, any thoughts? The professors will be down here very soon, we don't have long." She had no intention of repairing the kitchen, the sheer amount of energy it would require to charm the broken furniture to right itself in the limited time frame was beyond her capabilities right now - she was way too hungover for this shit and the tea wasn't sitting well with her Sirius-induced butterflies.
Sirius cocked a brow, looking at her almost teasingly. "My thoughts are that I'm going to sit here and finish my cup of tea, the kitchen looked like this when I got here," he said with certainty, making her laugh, "but I'd leave now if I were you, you don't want them to catch you here too."
Giselle hesitated, considering his suggestion for a split second, but her body made her decision for her and her arse glued itself to the bench. The threat of punishment didn't worry her, if she was lucky then this would be the catalyst that would light the match under Bartemius and finally push him to disown her, this was her way out. Giselle flashed Sirius her prettiest smile as she leant on her hand, captivated by him.
"I'm not going anywhere, I think it's time I received a letter home, don't you?" she declared, blindsiding him, and the antagonising pull in her navel that had teased her for not being able to act on her instincts grew from her butterflies, she didn't need to fight them anymore and she flourished under his intense gaze.
"That house isn't your home," murmured Sirius, his deep voice permeating in her ears like a favourite song, and he delicately took her hands in his. His calloused palms enveloped hers in a firm grip and he yanked her closer, hypnotised by her wide ink blue eyes. "You're not Barty's anymore, you're mine."
It took Giselle a couple of breathless seconds to reboot her brain, she fell so helplessly for his intimate words that the stirring in her abdomen transformed into something far more powerful, a hair-raising heat seeped between her thighs as she squirmed but she succumbed to her arousal and licked her plump lips, undoubtedly thirsting for his affection.
"Then take me…" she purred no louder than a whisper, her alluring voice thick with dirty insinuations, and Sirius almost broke. His silver irises darkened to a dangerous steel grey and he grabbed her chin without warning, smoothing his thumb against her freckled skin until he reached her bottom lip. Giselle couldn't move, the hold he had on her transfixed her entire being, her body and soul craved his and she could tell he wanted her just as badly.
"At least let me kiss you first," whispered Sirius, his gaze dropping to her lips, "I just need to…" but Giselle didn't need to hear his reasoning, she lurched forwards, knocked his hand away, and finally kissed him. It would be a lie to say that she didn't remember what kissing Sirius felt like, she replayed it so often in her head that it felt so natural, but the boy she kissed back then had grown up - this felt entirely otherworldly. One of his hands clapped around her neck, holding her extraordinarily still as he deepened their kiss with the darker intentions in mind, his long fingers digging into her jaw as he grew ravenous. She may have initiated the kiss but he passionately progressed into a snog, he knew exactly what he was doing to her and he needed more of his body. One of his hands fell down her curves and gravitated towards her arse, and she stifled her moan as he squeezed her hard.
"Ah, finally!"
"UM, EXCUSE ME?!"
Sirius and Giselle froze in their awkward stance half-stretched across the wrecked table and they dared to peek at the kitchens' entrance portrait where Professor McGonagall and Flitwick were standing, the former far less impressed than the latter. McGonagall was dumbstruck by the scene that greeted her and she caught Giselle's eye with nothing but sheer disappointment all over her face. Professor Flitwick, however, was more taken aback by the damage that had occurred and he immediately rushed around the kitchens, rather excited with the challenge that he was presented with, leaving the task of dishing out punishments to the Gryffindor head of house.
"First one to think of something witty to say wins," Sirius challenged out of the side of his mouth, and Giselle had to chomp on her bottom lip to stop herself from exploding with laughter.
"I don't even know where to begin," McGonagall said exasperatedly, torn at whether to shout at them for destroying Hogwarts' only kitchens or for attempting to reach second base on top of a table reserved for dining, "really, what in the heavens-?!"
"So I woke up in the Forbidden Forest naked, Sleekeazy potion everywhere-," Sirius started to explain with a poker face, but he broke Giselle and she exploded into giggles, burying her head into Sirius' chest, shying away from their enraged professor.
"I truly thought you had matured, the pair of you, I had so much that we would get through these last couple of months together without some nonsensical, hare-brained incident especially after the intense events we have had to suffer through this year, and now I know that I was wrong," McGonagall cut across the Gryffindors' childish fun bluntly, not wasting any of her energy to dilly dally around her point, "I think a hundred and fifty points from Gryffindor and detention for the rest of the year will do, I do hope your NEWTs won't suffer because of your idiocy. This isn't a good look, may I suggest you both grow up?"
Giselle locked eyes with McGonagall and cringed, hanging her head in shame. She was right but she didn't want to admit it, her professor didn't want her to join the Order of the Phoenix and this was a perfect example to support her argument. This is gonna bite me in the arse, I can just feel it.
"I think that's perfectly valid," Giselle agreed, popping the hazy bubble of desire that the pair was trapped in, and McGonagall nodded stiffly, her frown augmenting her age lines as well as her distress.
"You understand that I will have to write to your parents about this?" reminded McGonagall, looking only at Giselle, and she nodded valiantly. She understood perfectly.
"Your first detention starts now," McGonagall concluded, leaving the pair with the Charms professor and one last regretful head shake but Sirius and Giselle shared an impish smirk when they heard her mutter, "...Merlin, help me with these disobediant children of mine..."