Chapter 2 – Serendipity
Disclaimer: We do not own anything that belongs to J. K. Rowling!
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Heather bustled around the messy kitchen, trying to clean up as much as she could. It was a futile effort; the dirt seemed to be ingrained and most of the pots were stuck to the work surface. She gave up, vowing to hire a maid when she could get some more money and pay off her debts.
After her ex-fiancé had left her, he had cleared their joint bank account, leaving her with no money to pay the bills, only the meagre wage that she got from the Ministry. He also took the money that she had been saving up for their wedding. It was her independent nature that prevented her from crawling back to her parents in England in defeat. Nope, she would forge on. That would show him.
Heather gritted her teeth in anger. If she ever saw Paul again, she would give him a piece of her mind in the shape of a fist directed at his face. She threw the mug she had just used in the sink and wiped her hands on the back of her trousers. Casting one final look at the filthy kitchen that she never seemed to have time to clean, she headed into the lounge to have a cup of tea. The mess could wait.
She was halfway through pouring a cup when the doorbell pealed almost angrily. Heather jumped half a mile and spilled some tea on the tray. Muttering bad-temperedly about muggle equipment, she went towards the sound and opened the door. It was probably the man from next door who kept coming around, borrowing things and not giving them back.
"No, I don't have any more...!" Heather stopped and looked at the young-ish woman who was standing there. Speechless, she opened her eyes wide and grinned.
"Hello, Heather. How are you doing?" The woman asked, also smiling.
"Florence! Wow! This is such an unexpected surprise! Come in." She backed away allowing Florence entrance into her house. When Florence went towards the kitchen, Heather flinched and redirected her to the lounge.
"Sit down, if you can find space." Heather grimaced as she flung her coat off of a chair and Florence gingerly sat down.
"Thanks."
"So, what are you doing in Australia?" Heather asked, offering her a cup of tea. Florence made a confused face. "What is it?"
"Heather, you do remember the Quidditch World Cup is on next week?" She asked, smiling.
"Oh, buggeration." Heather cursed and Florence had to fight not to laugh. "Damnation."
"So you forgot, then. Are you going?"
"Yeah, I got free tickets from the Ministry because I helped design some of the Muggle-impervious charms." She made a face.
"Wow." Florence sounded impressed. "Are you going to apparate there everyday?"
"No... I think I booked a room somewhere for... sometime." Heather said with confusion and her old friend laughed. "I wrote it down somewhere." She started rifling through the tower of papers that littered the spot next to her chair.
Florence sipped her tea, waiting.
"Aha! Here it is, the Dewey Bed and Breakfast. It's not far from the stadium. It's owned by Muggles though so I had to use the..." Heather flicked a careless hand towards the telephone. "...thingywotsit."
Florence stifled a giggle and Heather frowned slightly. "You know what I mean!"
"Yes... So..." Florence tried to keep a straight face. "How are you?"
"Oh, fine. Perfectly fine."
"And Paul?"
"Gone. Forever. Good riddance, says I." Heather reported in a deadened tone and her friend lent over and gave her a hug. "It's ok. Really, we weren't suited for each other. We were mostly just friends in the end." Heather lied, not really wanting to talk about it.
"Oh, poor you. I'm really sorry."
"It's ok. Ahem. Changing the subject. So, where are you staying?"
"On a campsite, just outside the stadium. Got one of those fancy tents, you know, the ones with the houses in." She sipped at her tea again.
Heather smiled. "Those are normal tents!" she protested. "So, any blokes in your life?"
"I bumped into Sirius Black back at Hogwarts. I think I told you about it in an owl."
Heather controlled her expression. "Oh, yes. I think you did. Anyone else?"
Florence shook her head.
"Another cup of tea?" Heather offered and she nodded, holding out her hands. "Thanks."
"So, when does the first Quidditch match start? I don't have a clue at all..."
Florence smiled. "You're hopeless! It starts next week – August 9th. Don't forget!"
"I'll try." Heather said with a grimace. Quidditch wasn't her favourite sport in the world; in fact, she didn't really like it at all, but she knew she had to be there. "But I'm not guaranteeing anything!" She continued, pouring herself another cup of tea.
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Heather queued up outside the Quidditch stadium, eager to get in and watch the match. She hopped from one foot to the other in excitement and tried to peer over the top of the crowd in front of her. The queue suddenly surged backwards and Heather groaned in pain as the discernibly taller man in front of her stepped on her tiny feet encased, unprotected, in strappy sandals.
"Hey!" She yelled and tapped her hand on the back of his leather jacket. She had to admit the wizard in front was a hunk! He had a really tight ass... She shook her head, trying to get rid of the unwanted thoughts – another boyfriend was the last thing she needed! - and tapped his shoulder again.
"Watch where you're going!" She shouted over the noise of the crowd, her feet still in considerable pain. The man turned his head slightly at this, his dark hair just brushing his collar, and she wondered briefly how he could stand to wear a leather jacket in the middle of an Australian desert. He must be boiling!
"Sorry, lady, but it's not my fault." He shrugged and his deep, accented voice melted over Heather like strawberry-whip ice cream – her favourite! She blinked and, trying a move that a contortionist would envy, lent down to rub her bruised toes. The crowd pushed forward and she wobbled, her arms flailing for something to grab onto to keep her upright. The only thing available was the back pocket of the cute wizard's jeans. Nearly pulling him over in the process, Heather grabbed hold of the denim and balanced precariously on one foot.
"Hey!" The wizard yelled, "What do you think you're doing?!" He pried her hand off of his jeans.
Heather tottered briefly, her arms and legs flailing, before falling on the floor on her rear in an ungainly heap. The good-looking wizard just stared down at her and laughed, his hands resting comfortably on the waistband of his black jeans. She looked up from her position on the ground, her mouth open and ready to give the man a good tongue-lashing for his impertinence but stopped.
"Sirius?" Heather sat on the floor, and gazed up at him, her mouth agape in amazement. The wizard's smile faded a little as he squinted down at her through his dark sunglasses.
He scanned his eyes over the tiny woman, sprawled on the floor, with a great expanse of tanned leg made visible by the high skirt of her mini-dress and his eyes widened behind the shades.
"Heather?" He grinned, offering his hand to help her up. "What are you doing here?"
"Uh... isn't it rather obvious? I'm here for the World Cup!" She brushed her pale blue dress down over her curvy frame, rubbing her backside a little to stem the pain, and smirked up at him from her diminutive height. "Why? Am I in the wrong queue?"
Sirius just grinned down at her, ignoring her mocking question. His eyes wandered over her appreciatively. "Wow! You look great!"
Heather blushed a little, her tan thankfully hiding most of the unwanted colour. "Thanks, Sirius. You don't look too bad yourself." Her flush grew a little when she remembered exactly what she had been thinking about his ass earlier.
The crowd moved a bit further forward and Heather, lost in thought and not expecting the movement, was pushed forward. She tripped over one of Sirius' size 10 boots and went flying again, right into his chest. Luckily, this time Sirius was prepared and grabbed her, hugging her close so that she could regain her balance.
Heather, enjoying the feeling of being pressed up against the taut muscles of his chest, sniffed slightly and absorbed the intoxicatingly manly smell of him. Her hands wandered involuntarily around his body until she was hugging him back.
Sirius sighed contentedly and Heather, remembering herself, pushed away from his chest, trying to regain control of her emotions, but he didn't let her go. She looked up at him and almost gasped at the hunger that was visible in his pale blue eyes. It was quickly disguised.
Heather stared up at him, absorbing every inch of his face. He'd been a handsome boy in school and she had adored him with the rest of the girls and he had looked very handsome in the newspaper photograph but, compared to the real thing, it didn't do him justice – he was absolutely gorgeous!
"Sorry," she muttered, still held captive by his eyes.
Sirius shook his head slightly. "I'm enjoying this, even if you aren't – a full frontal cuddle with a beautiful woman makes a perfect start to the day!"
"Idiot!" She stepped out of his encircling arms and giggled up at him. He smiled down at her a little but the expression in his intense eyes was unfathomable. Forgetting exactly where she was for those long moments, Heather was abruptly awoken by the pulsating of the crowd behind her. Sirius grabbed her hand.
"Come on, Heather. The queue's moving!"
Heather was tugged along next to Sirius and he guided her in front of him. She wobbled on her sandals a little and cursed herself for choosing to wear them. It was the first time she had seen Sirius in about 20 years and she just had to act like a klutz and fall all over him like a besotted school girl. She sighed in annoyance.
Sirius, looking down at her blonde head, shook his head in amazement. Who would have thought he'd meet Heather Harris at a Quidditch match in Australia? It must be fate, he thought briefly before a voice in his head spoke up, mockingly: For someone who hates Divination, you seem to rely a lot on destiny!
Sirius' face creased into his lady-killer grin and a woman who was in the path of his disinterested gaze almost fell over. He didn't notice; he was too busy thinking about the slight female in front of him. Heather wriggled, obviously having trouble with her shoes. She leaned down again, treating him to a glimpse of the curve of her backside and Sirius felt those familiar prickles of lust.
"Having trouble down there?" He asked Heather and she tried to look up at him while adjusting her sandal strap.
"No. I'm fine." She smiled up at him dazzlingly and he felt that all too familiar feeling stir again. "Oh! Dammit!" She pointed her wand at her feet and murmured an incantation. A pair of shiny white trainers changed places with the blue sandals. "That's better."
A bark of laughter made her look up at Sirius as he chuckled down at her. "Now, that's a spell I haven't heard before!"
The laughter alerted a woman a few people ahead to his presence. "Hey, Sirius! Over here!"
Sirius saw Florence waving at him and waved cheerfully back. Heather joined him as she realised that her friend had seen them. Her smile faded a little as she saw Severus Snape standing with her in the queue.
"What's he doing here?" she hissed, her earlier good mood forgotten.
"Calm down, Heather. Snape and Florence are back together-" He stopped as he saw the menacing look on her face.
"What do you mean? After that git hurt her 25 years ago, she's decided to forgive and forget and let him break her heart all over again? And you're just standing there and watching him do it?" Heather's volume rose with every question until she was practically yelling at the top of her voice.
"Yes..." Sirius grabbed hold of her arm, holding it tightly but not enough to hurt her. "But it's her life and we must let her live it. Without interference." Sirius muttered something under his breath that sounded like "for the moment" to Heather but, realising the wisdom of his other words, she calmed down a little.
"OK... but if he hurts her again, I'm gonna kill him."
Sirius grinned slightly at the image of Heather taking on Snape in hand-to-hand combat. "You and me both, sweetheart. You and me both."
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Authors' Notes: Thanks to our lovely reviewers for their lovely reviews. They brighten our day!
Hopeful Writer: Thank you for the support! Long reviews don't matter; we love them just as much as the short ones!!!
Sapphireskies: If you really liked that scene at the beginning, and you haven't read it already, maybe you should read one of our other stories, 'Before They Were Famous'. It's mainly a Florence/Severus fic but it does include some, in our opinion, very funny Sirius/Heather moments! Thank you very much for your kind words, though!
Love,
Martha and Squirrel.
xxx.