Chapter 10 – Trouble Brewing

Disclaimer: We do not own anything that is recognisable as J. K. Rowling's.

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"Sirius?"

"What?"

"Hello?! You're meant to be listening! I brought you here to discuss some very important matters!"

Sirius blinked rapidly a couple of times and stared intently at the attractive woman who was sat across the table from him.

Helena ran an impatient hand through her short black hair and fixed him with a glare. "That's better. Now, what colour balloons should we have at Thalia's anniversary party?"

Sirius groaned. "Is this what you wanted to discuss? Really, Lenna, I have better things to do."

Lenna pouted crossly. "Sirius Black, our mother is probably turning in her grave! You know how much she loved parties and Thalia is no different! That's why we have to make things special!"

"Couldn't we have done this by floo?"

"Sirius…" Helena said warningly.

"Ok, ok, I'm paying attention." Sirius put his hands up defensively. "Now what were we talking about?"

"Balloons. Colour. What."

"Blue."

"Blue? Blue is not right!"

"Then why in Merlin's name are you asking me?"

"I thought you would care enough to want to help out at our sister's surprise party, but obviously you have something more important on your mind." Helena ground out, putting down the quill that she had been tapping on the table for the last half-an-hour. "Let me guess, it's a woman, probably blonde, with overlarge breasts and long legs. Am I right?"

Sirius smirked. "Nope."

"But it's a woman right?"

"Yep."

"A brunette with overlarge breasts and long legs?"

"Nope."

"A redhead?"

"Give it a break, Lenna."

"I will not "give it a break". I'm your oldest sister; therefore, I have the monopoly on messing with your love life. Plus, I've been married for over twenty years and I need to know every little piece of gossip so I can brighten my hum-drum life."

Sirius grinned, knowing full well how happy she was with her life, exactly how it was. "S'not going to work. I'm not spilling."

"Sirius, you'll tell me or else!" Lenna threatened.

"Ok. She's a woman, beautiful silver hair, has a lovely body… for her age."

"And that is…?"

"Older than you. Older than mum would be, actually…"

"Sirius Black!" Helena looked horrified, before she spotted the growing smirk on her brother's face. "You sick bugger!"

Sirius grinned. "You wanted to know."

"I wanted to know the truth and I'm not letting you off the hook until you at least give me something!"

He sighed. "There's nothing much to tell, really."

"'Nothing much' made you drown in your beer for most of the evening?"

Sirius grimaced. "Well, it's just this girl…"

"I knew it!"

"I don't know. She's…"

Helena lifted a delicate eyebrow. "Hmmm?"

"She's…"

"Sirius. Tell me."

"She's… she… I knew her at school."

"Well, that's a start at least! Who is she?"

"Oh, I don't know…"

"You don't know?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Of course I know who she is! I don't know whether I want to tell you – you might do something terrible to her."

"What's she done that would make me hate her? Don't tell me she's rejected your advances?" Helena asked with perverse delight.

"Not exactly…"

"Then what?"

There was a pause, as if Sirius was making his mind up about something. "Silver."

"What?! She's not a werewolf, is she?"

"No. The balloons should be silver. It's one of Thalia's favourite colours." Sirius gave Helena a warning look over the top of his beer glass.

Helena sighed deeply and shot him a slightly mournful look. "Ok, ok. I'll leave you alone for now, but you know I'll winkle it out of you one of these days."

"I'm sure you will."

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"Imagine, Sirius going out on a date and leaving me at home, alone," Heather muttered angrily as she sorted her books into alphabetical order. She was kneeling on the floor in front of the bookcase waving her wand about in a furious manner.

"He was all flirty in Australia, but when I move in with him… nothing. It's as if he's lost interest. He probably has." Heather shrugged morosely. "The bugger."

Standing up, she glared at the carpet marks that had reddened the skin on her legs and groaned.

"What's the bloody point? He's probably gone out with some exotic woman with black hair, brown eyes and long legs. Not to mention overlarge breasts! How can one compete with that? And she probably doesn't even get carpet burn…" Heather grumbled, rubbing her knees to get rid of the irritating rash. "Bloody floozy. Probably can cook without using her wand as well," Heather muttered under her breath as she shuffled the short distance from the lounge to the kitchen. "Probably doesn't get bed-head either. If Sirius saw me in the morning, he'd get one heck of a fright. Bet she doesn't need to read romance books, either. Probably clicks her fingers and he comes running."

"Who comes running to who?"

Heather jumped a mile and spun round angrily. "Merlin, Sirius! Didn't I tell you not to apparate behind me?!"

"How was I supposed to know you were in here?" Sirius raised his eyebrows at her.

"And did you never learn not to eavesdrop into people's conversations?"

"Nope. Whom are you talking about?"

Heather frowned and looked at her watch. "You're home a bit early, aren't you? I didn't expect you for hours yet."

Sirius smirked. "Why? Have you got someone coming round? Should I make myself scarce?"

"I don't think you would care if I did," Heather muttered sulkily, before padding into the lounge, clutching a cup of tea.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing."

"You expect me to believe that?"

"You can do what you want."

"Thank you. Can we watch 'Family Fortunes'?" Sirius collapsed on the sofa with all the grace of a sack of potatoes.

Heather reluctantly handed over the remote control.

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Heather had just curled up with a book, when the doorbell rang almost angrily. Sighing with annoyance, she gave up her comfortable position on the sofa and went to answer it.

She opened the door slowly and peered around it. Her 'hello' froze in her throat when she saw whom it was.

"Hello, Heather. How have you been?" Paul asked cheerfully, as if the last few months hadn't happened.

"What are you doing here?" Heather hissed waspishly and the friendly smile faded from her ex-fiancé's face.

"I had hoped this would be a friendly meeting…"

"Friendly? You thought if you came to my doorstep after all you did, I'd greet you with a smile and a hug?! There's no chance in that. Why don't you just go away?" Heather felt bile rising to her throat at the situation and wished that she could just go indoors and pretend that this hadn't happened.

"What, and leave you alone with your boyfriend? You certainly don't waste any time, Heather. And after all we've been through…" He shook his head sadly, but Heather didn't smile. She started to close the door in his face, but was stopped when he put his foot in the way.

"Well, that was rude. Aren't you going to invite me in?"

"No."

"I'll tell you my news out here, then." Paul leaned against the doorframe, his foot still halfway into the property.

"I don't want to hear anything from you."

"Tut, tut. I thought you'd be pleased to hear I'm getting married in a month."

Heather's mouth gaped. "Married? And you accused me of moving fast?"

"Well, me and Sarah are different from you and your sugar-daddy." A nasty smirk spread over his face and Heather shuddered.

"The only one who scrounges money around here is you," she declared defiantly, trying not to show how worried she was.

"That's not what I've heard. I heard you moved all the way from Australia to here to move in with your boyfriend so he could pay all your debts. Now, that's what I call serious scrounging."

Heather tried to slap his face but he deftly caught her wrist.

"Speaking of, that's what I'm here for, dearest. I need some more money. Now, cough up!"

"What?! I'm not going to give you money!" Heather was shocked at his audacity. "Now, go away! Sirius should be here in a minute."

"What, you mean he's not in already? Even better!"

Heather paled as she realised her mistake and her ex-fiancé laughed militantly.

"How much have you got on you?"

"I'm not going to give you anything… You took all the money I had. I have nothing left, so leave me alone."

Paul's face hardened and he looked at her with pure menace in his eyes. "You'd better be speaking the truth, because, if I find out otherwise, I'll be back."

And without a further word, he stalked down the path and apparated out of sight. Heather shut the door and leant against it, breathing hard. A tear slipped down her face and she cursed. She couldn't let Sirius see her like this; she needed fresh air. Picking up her keys, she locked the house and set off down the road, not knowing her destination. Just knowing that she needed to walk.

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"Hello?" Sirius called as he walked through the doorway. When there was no response, he shrugged and went into the sitting room, sitting on the sofa and stretching his legs out.

Looking around him, he spied a book placed casually beside him. With a grin of amusement, he picked it up and looked at the front cover.

"'A Little Bit of Magic' by Selina Spellcraft. Part of the Magical-Romance Series."

He put it back down, not tempted in the least to read it. Plus, Heather might catch him with it and then he would have a lot of explaining to do. He grinned at the thought.

Getting off the sofa, he went to find out where she had got to.

After a quick inspection of the house, he discovered she wasn't in. Maybe she had gone shopping. He cast a look at his watch and frowned. All the shops were probably shut now.

He heard the doorbell ring and smiled in relief – she had probably forgotten her keys.

"So you forgot your…" he began as he opened the door but stopped as he noticed the unfamiliar man standing there. "Can I help you?" Sirius asked politely.

"Yes, I think you can." The man smiled in a way Sirius didn't like and his polite smile faded.

"Oh?" he asked.

"You think that I'm going to let you and Heather have all the fun while I go away with nothing? I want some money."

"What? Who are you?" Sirius was immediately irate.

"Didn't Heather tell you I was in town? I'm her fiancé… well, her ex-fiancé. And she owes me."

"She owes you? I believe it's the other way round," Sirius growled and the other man smiled.

"Can you believe that all the time we were engaged, she didn't so much as sleep with me once? She owes me compensation."

"Get out of here," Sirius ground out.

"Oh, I guess the story is different here. Has she given up her 'morals' for you?"

"That's none of your damn business."

"Ah, for money, she'll do anything…" Paul implied and Sirius' face stiffened, his fists clenching and unclenching by his sides.

"You'd better leave now."

"Or what? Are you going to set the Aurors on me? Like they'd believe a wizard that was in Azkaban for killing his best friend."

That was the last straw. Sirius lashed out, knocking Heather's ex-fiancé sideways with the force of his blow. "If I see you around here again, I will call the Aurors," Sirius threatened before shutting the door on the sight of Paul struggling to get up.

Now, in spite of his anger, he was really worried. What had happened to Heather? Had her ex-fiancé threatened her too? If he had, then he would most certainly be paraplegic by morning…

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Heather stumbled through the doorway just as Sirius straightened from the fire. He stood up and gripped her shoulders tightly, bringing her up to face him.

"Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you!" Sirius face was tight and his lips were pressed together until they were almost white, waiting for her answer. "I've just flooed Hogwarts, but they didn't have a clue where you were either!"

"Sirius! So nice to see you..." Heather smiled sillily. "How are you?"

Sirius frowned menacingly. "What are you playing at, going out like that on your own? You can't walk the streets of London late at night! Who knows what could have happened?"

"You look so good when you're angry. Why are you not angry more often? It suits you..."

"Heather!" Sirius shook her a little, trying to make her listen.

"La la laaa..." Heather sung some obscure snippet of a tune and didn't pay attention to the fast rate his temper was rising at. "Oopsidaisy... Have to start again..."

Sirius knuckles were glowing white in his anger and frustration. "Why won't you listen?" he yelled and Heather looked quite shocked.

"No need for that, Sirius..."

Growling, he pulled her over to the sofa and set her down on it. "Talk," he ordered.

"Don't want to now." Heather pouted.

"You'd better..." he threatened.

"Or what? You're gonna tell my mummy on me?" Heather giggled madly and Sirius' face straightened with comprehension. His anger didn't lessen though.

"You're drunk."

"Ooh... Aren't we Mr Cleverclogs? I'm not drunk. I only had a couple..."

"A couple of what?"

"I can't remember... the nice Muggle barman called it a... Green Dutchman. No, that's not right. A yellow German?"

"A Black Russian." Sirius said between gritted teeth.

"Yeah! That's it! Well, I only had about two of those..." Heather tried to show two fingers but gave up, confused.

"You got drunk on two Black Russians?"

"I'm not drunk..."

Sirius sighed long-sufferingly. "You're in no fit state to discuss this."

"I am so! Discuss what?" Heather got off the sofa and started to spin round giddily. "Ooh! This is fun!"

Sirius got up and held her steady.

"You spoiled it." She pouted and he couldn't help noticing how beautiful she looked. "You know, you have the nicest mouth..."

"Heather..."

"I bet you're a fantastic kisser..." Her face spread in a dreamy sort of smile and Sirius felt his stomach tighten. He had to stop her and fast before he couldn't control himself and kissed her.

"Heather...!"

"I bet you turn women's legs weak. Pandora looked pretty impressed. I bet her legs were weak. I bet she-"

"Heather!" Sirius was quite confused. "Who the hell is Pandora?!"

She frowned slightly. "Pandora Devine… You should know better than I do: you kissed her!"

"I kissed her…?" Sirius racked his brains. "At the Leaver's Ball?"

Heather nodded, though looked a little glummer than before. "You never kissed me, you know. Not properly… You would rather kiss a Slytherin than me."

"That's not true! She kissed me, Heather. I had no time to escape."

"It didn't look like that from where I was standing…" Heather pouted slightly.

"You obviously didn't stick around long enough! Anyway, that was twenty-odd years ago! What does it matter now?"

"You hurt me."

Sirius frowned. "That's why you wouldn't speak to me. If you had only said…" he sighed.

"I'm sure you've had thousands of girls since then… You still wouldn't want someone like me." Heather looked as if she was going to cry. "Someone that has no feminine charms whatsoever. A short, fat lump…"

"Heather!"

"What?"

"If you only knew how much I…" Sirius stopped, unsure of where this was going. He didn't want to take advantage of her while she was vulnerable. "I think it's best if you go to bed now... We'll talk about it in the morning."

"Don't want to go to bed... unless you're coming." Heather spoke decidedly. "Yes, I think I'd enjoy that."

"You think?" Sirius desperately wanted to make her sure but held himself back. "Go to bed, Heather. I'll see you in the morning." He turned his back on her and started to make his way to his own bedroom. He hadn't gone very far when...

"Sirius!"

He heard her cry his name and rushed back into the sitting room to find her face down on the floor, passed out.

"Of all the stupid, irresponsible..." Muttering expletives, Sirius lifted her easily in his arms and carried her into the bedroom, putting her carefully down on his bed. Standing back, he watched her as she lay there fast asleep, her hair all mussed and her eyelashes sending long shadows on her cheeks.

She looked so irresistible that he could barely stop from touching her, even if only to stroke the softness of the skin on the palm of her hand.

He shook his head, trying to snap out of it. He had controlled his desire before many times and had succeeded, so what was so different about this girl?

She's Heather, a traitorous voice inside his head whispered and he groaned. Trying to ignore the voice, he looked at her again, this time calculatingly, trying to work out what had to be done.

Moving cautiously towards the bed, he loosened her clothing, removing it so it didn't choke her in the night. Carefully keeping his gaze averted as much as he could to save her dignity, he covered her with the sheet.

He removed his own shirt and slid onto the bed beside her, on top of the covers, to get some sleep himself.

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Authors' Notes:

Hiya all!

Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing – I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long!

Thanks especially to:

Hopeful Writer, sapphireskies, leigh, Erks, and Drachenaugen.

Lots of love,

(Martha and) Squirrel. xxx.