Chapter 15 – Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
Disclaimer: We do not own anything that is recognisable as J. K. Rowling's. Oh, and the title of this chapter comes from a song that I love, but unfortunately do not own.
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"Sirius Black!"
Sirius heard a screech from above and froze where he was standing. What ever Heather was angry about, it spelled trouble for him.
"Sirius Black! Where are you?!"
He felt the childish urge to climb into a cupboard and hide there, like he used to do when his mother had caught him doing something he shouldn't have been.
Heather stormed into the kitchen and stood there looking at him, her baby-blue eyes glittering with anger, her hands clenched by her sides.
She looked absolutely stunning, Sirius thought and he smiled at her. It was a mistake.
"What are you smiling at? You thought you could get away with this, did you?" Heather screeched.
"Get away with what?" Sirius asked nervously.
"You must have known I'd find out eventually – your little scheme to make a fool out of me. How could you play with my emotions that way? What sort of man are you?" She paused for breath.
"I'm sorry, Heather, but I don't have a clue what you are talking about." He folded his arms across his chest defensively.
"Oh, you are good, really good. I do believe you are almost the finest liar I have ever come across. But you've been busted this time – I know it all! The whole story! You can't escape!"
"Now, see here… I haven't lied about anything!"
"Oh no?" Heather raised one eyebrow. "Then how do you explain the fact that you never told me you were a animagi?"
Uh-oh, Sirius winced inwardly. "Because you never asked?"
Heather's face flushed slightly with anger. "All that time, I thought you had rescued me from that dog, you never told me that it was you! Now, if that's not deceiving someone, I don't know what is."
"I didn't deceive you, I just didn't tell you. You were so shocked about it all, I didn't dare say-"
"So, it's my fault, is it?!" Heather stormed. She picked up a frying pan from next to the sink and waved it around in the air, stressing her words. "It's my fault?! Well, I'm sorry to bother you. I'm sorry I was terrified! I'm sorry I FAINTED! How long have you been planning it, eh? Was it a ploy to get me to move out? Were you going to tell me that it was a ghost dog that haunted this house, so I'd be so scared that I would move?" she screeched.
"If I told you that, you wouldn't have believed me."
It was the last straw. Heather brought the frying pan down towards him to hit him on his head. He was faster, though.
"Accio frying pan," he yelled and caught the pan deftly, leaving her to smack him on the chest with her fists.
"How could you?!"
He dropped the pan and grasped her wrists, holding them tightly to stopping her from hurting him. "Now, what is this all about?" he ground out. "Just because I felt the need to relax in dog-form on the sofa? Well, that's what I was doing and then you walked in. I had no time to change back. If I had done it in front of you, it would have been a nasty shock. I had no choice but to wait until you had left the room. Unfortunately, you were not capable of doing so. If I had known you were scared of dogs, I would have told you. As a matter of fact, I had forgotten that you didn't know! Your reaction was immensely worrying and confusing."
Heather stopped struggling and a sob escaped her throat. Tears welled in her eyes and, observing all this, Sirius' attitude softened.
"I'm really sorry, Heather. I should have told you anyway, but I didn't know you didn't know."
"Can you let go, Sirius? You're hurting me," Heather sniffled.
Sirius released her hands in shock. "Oh, Merlin! I'm sorry."
Heather dropped her arms so that they hung by her sides. She turned around and moved away, her anger gone.
"Heather? Come back here," Sirius called and she stopped.
"What?"
"Do you forgive me? Will you come and talk to me, please? We have to discuss this."
Heather sighed and turned back to face him. Tears were trickling down her cheeks and Sirius sighed before drawing her into his embrace.
"I didn't do it to make fun of you, I promise. Don't cry," he soothed.
"I was going to kill you," she sobbed. "I'm so sorry."
"I don't think that was going to happen. You couldn't kill me, if you tried."
Heather's head came up at that and her bottom lip stuck out stubbornly. "I could!"
"That's better. You've stopped crying," Sirius explained, smiling a little, and Heather, after a brief scowl, returned it. "You forgive me, don't you?"
"There's nothing to forgive. In truth, I should be the one asking for forgiveness. It's none of my business whether you're an animagi or whether you were brought up by gnomes."
"I wasn't brought up by gnomes." Sirius grinned. "And, if it makes you feel better, I forgive you for nearly knocking my block off."
Heather smiled up at him. "I guess that's sorted then. So, how long have you been an animagi?"
"Since school," he shrugged.
"Wow! So there was one pastime that I didn't know about! I wasn't as good a stalker as I thought I was!"
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Sirius walked down Diagon Alley, casting an uninterested eye over the goods that were on display.
A familiar figure bargaining with a crusty old gent attracted Sirius' attention and he dashed over, happy to see her.
"Thalia! What are you doing here?" he cried, before enveloping her in a hug.
Amused, the woman wound her arms around him and squeezed. "Hello, little brother. I just happen to be in the middle of buying something. Give me a minute."
Sirius watched as his sister bartered her way down from seven sickles to three, all in a very impressive and elegant manner.
"I don't know why you're buying things from here, Lia, when you have a husband who owns three of these places."
"I enjoy spending money in his stores – it only comes back to me anyway. It's the fun of spending, without actually losing money!" she laughed.
Sirius shook his head. "I'll never understand women…"
"Here's the guy with the boatload of experience speaking!"
He rolled his eyes. "You're not going to give me the settling-down lecture, are you? I already bought a house at your suggestion, what's next?"
"Obviously to find a wife, dufus! Someone to love – I hate to see you so alone."
"I'm not alone, as a matter of fact. I'm living with someone."
Thalia raised one of her eyebrows in a gesture so similar to his own. "You're what? Oh, Sirius, you're not back with that Chastity Murdoch again?" she asked with distaste.
"No! Of course not."
"Then who? Does Helena know?" Thalia frowned. "No… our respected older sister has been visiting with her in-laws for a couple of days – you can't have seen her."
"No, I haven't told Lenna. In fact, you're the first family member I've told," Sirius revealed.
"Really?!" Thalia's smile lit up her pretty face and Sirius had to smile at her.
"Yep."
"So, back to the point. Who is this mysterious girl? I'd better like her… Can't have you marrying anyone that doesn't have my seal of approval."
"I don't know whether you know her: Heather Harris – she was in my year at Hogwarts." Sirius smiled a little.
His sister frowned. "No, I don't think so. You never mentioned her, so I guess she's not an old flame, but, then again, you really didn't have time to do anything but swap names with them before dumping and moving on," Thalia said with an air of disapproval.
"Oh, come on! You were just as bad, if not worse!"
"So, is she an old flame?" Thalia ignored him.
"Not exactly…"
"And what does that mean? Don't tell me there was one girl that escaped you. Merlin, Sirius, that must be a miracle – you were the biggest slut in the year!"
Sirius scowled. "Thalia! She had a crush on me… but, no, we didn't go out. In fact, there were a lot of girls I didn't go out with."
"Yeah, like Florence. I liked her – she was the only one who saw through your charms."
Sirius ignored her.
"So, about this Heather girl. What's she like?"
"Oh, stubborn, crazy, bad-tempered, nosy, pushy…" A dreamy smile spread over his face and Thalia's blue eyes lit up with interest. "…wonderful."
"Well, that's quite a list there. It sounds like you're in love for the first time in… yonks! I want to meet this Heather; I want to meet the girl that has finally kicked my brother in the heart enough for him to follow her around like a love-sick puppy!"
"I'm not in love…"
"You don't sound so sure."
"I'm not."
"Fantastic. So, when's the wedding? Can I be bridesmaid? Nah… I'm a bit too old for that. Noelle could be one though."
"Speaking of, how is Noelle?" Sirius changed the subject to hear about one of his nieces.
"As odd as a 18-year-old daughter of mine can be. She's just got a job as a barmaid." Thalia winced and Sirius laughed.
"Don't be too hard on her – she's only as odd as you were at that age."
"I don't remember gluing my hair up all over my head and putting green streaks in it."
Sirius choked. "She hasn't...?"
Thalia nodded. "She has. Anyway, we're getting off the subject. When's the wedding? I'm impatient for a new nephew or niece!"
Sirius frowned. "I don't think you're ever going to get one, I'm afraid. Unless Lenna spews out a couple more."
"Oh, so you've suddenly had your worst fear realised: you really like a girl and she hates your guts?"
"That's not my worst fear," Sirius ground out and Thalia winced.
"Sorry, little brother," she apologised before folding him into a hug. "So, what's wrong with this girl-shaped nugget?"
"Nothing. She's perfect…" he sighed, "She just broke up with her fiancé who took her for all she had."
"Ouch. And you took her in and took care of her, the same way you did with the gnomes you used to rescue when you were little. One of those buggers stole my best robes, you know." Thalia frowned at the memory.
"I don't think Heather would do that," Sirius smiled.
"You're in big trouble, Sirius. Girls with problems aren't ideal candidates for happy marriages."
"She wouldn't marry me, even if I asked her."
Thalia rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me you're in the throes of self-pity. Don't worry about it; just tell her how you feel. And, if she rejects you (which I believe she won't), not only will you move on and get over it, but I'll kick the living crap out of her for messing with my little brother, ok?"
Sirius dredged up a grin. "I suppose you're right."
"That's the spirit! Now, when I come and visit you next week, I expect to interrupt some very serious necking!"
"Ahh… the truth comes out – you're just a pervert really, aren't you, Lia?"
"Sure am. Wouldn't you be if you had been married as long as I have? Now, get!" She turned him round and pushed him in the other direction.
With a jaunty wave, Sirius headed for home.
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Heather ran into the house and shut the door behind her. She leant up against it and let the tears flow freely down her cheeks. So, he was in love with another girl. She should have known a man like Sirius couldn't be celibate for long. And he obviously still didn't see her as any reason to settle down…
Furiously wiping her wet face, Heather stormed upstairs and into her bedroom, grabbing the suitcases from the top of her wardrobe and the attic and throwing them on the bed. She started taking clothes from the drawers and chucking them in with no concern for tidiness.
Filling them up, she stood them next to her bed, ready, and decided to get the Knight Bus out of here and to her parent's house; damn the consequences.
She started removing her things from the bathroom but stopped when she heard the front door close.
"Heather? Are you here?" Sirius called and she suddenly panicked. He wasn't going to let her leave. She rushed into her bedroom and quickly finished her packing, wiping the tears off of her face so that he wouldn't know she had been crying.
"Heather?" Sirius called again but she still carried on packing.
He popped his head round the door and his face broke into a grin when he saw her. "So, you are in then. Why didn't you answer when I called?"
Heather just shrugged and he entered the room, wanting to talk to her, tell her how he felt. He paused when he saw her tear-ravaged face.
"What's happened? What's wrong? Has he been back? I'm going to kill him..." Sirius absently rubbed one of his fists and Heather, in her hysterical state, thought it comical that he didn't even realise that she'd seen him in Diagon Alley. Of course he hadn't – he had been too involved with the other woman.
"Paul hasn't been back." Heather told him, her voice a bit scratchy from tears.
"Then, what? What's…" Sirius stopped when he saw the suitcases on the bed behind her. "Where are you going?" he asked softly.
Heather looked at him for a minute, trying to come up with a suitable excuse. "I've found somewhere else to live, somewhere closer to work – you see, I've got a job!" Heather figured telling the truth would work best, even if it was only the half-truth.
"I see." Sirius frowned. "And you were going to leave now?"
Heather bit her lip. "I was going to wait as soon as you got home," she lied. "I want to move out as soon as possible – I've inconvenienced you enough." She turned around and slid her coat on, picking up her suitcases.
"And you were going to get to this new place, how?" Sirius asked, trying to hide his feelings of dread.
"I'm going to take the Knight Bus. I'm sure they won't mind shipping me about." Heather moved past him but he grabbed her arm. She shied away from the touch and he frowned more fiercely.
"I could take you," he offered.
"No!" Heather clamped her mouth shut as she realised how her strong dissent must have sounded. "I mean, no, I don't need any help, thank you. I'll be fine."
Sirius let go of her arm without another word and she smiled slightly at him.
"I'm sure we'll see each other around; I'll floo you." She started down the stairs but stopped at the front door when she heard his words.
"Why are you doing this, Heather? I thought that maybe…" he trailed off, his face bleak, showing his real emotions for the first time.
She turned back to face him, her smile fading when she saw the hurt look on his face. He must be a very good actor, she told herself cruelly.
"You didn't think we could go on like this forever, did you, Sirius?" she bit callously and, without waiting for his answer or looking at him for a moment more (she wasn't sure whether her façade would hold up that long), she opened the door and stepped outside. Sticking her wand-hand out, she clambered onto the bus when it arrived, only to turn around and see Sirius watching her quietly from the open door.
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Authors' Notes:
Hello! Sorry for the long wait for me to update. I've had a lot of work (*groan*) to do recently and couldn't seem to find the time to write.
Anyways, special thanks to:
The Elfin Child – I hope that you escaped from the evil bird and I really hope it wasn't a pigeon! They terrify me!
Eflei – Wow! The whole story in one sitting? I'm very impressed and flattered! J I'm very glad you've put aside your hate of original characters to read my story and I hope I don't disappoint you.
Hopeful Writer – Sorry about yet another cliff-hanger. It's an addiction. J I hope it doesn't annoy you too much!
Cate O'Hara – I'm glad I made your day sunnier – you made mine sunnier when you reviewed! I'm glad you relate to Heather. I sorta think she's an exaggerated version of myself, which worries me sometimes!
caytebelle – Sorry about the wait for 'lovin'. I promise they will get together eventually, once they stop being idiots! And don't worry, Bran will be returning.
sapphireskies – I agree that men are idiots sometimes, especially our Sirius. J I hope you're glad that he's still alive – it would be a dead-end story otherwise, wouldn't it?!
DittoGirl – I'm really glad you liked the last chapter, and hope you'll like this one just as much!
Sam – I think you'll agree that Sirius did get what he deserved! You can't say Heather doesn't show her point of view! ;-)
Krusty – Ahem. He definitely didn't get anything X-rated, I'm sorry. J Miss you too, despite your weirdness! And I know you got a Tinkerbelle notebook – I was there when you bought it! Silly! Anyways, I've sent Martha your way to review your story. Hopefully she won't be too mean!
Ginny – I hope you weren't too bothered by the "update-wait"!