Chapter Four; Sugar and Spite
Surprisingly enough, despite his obvious lack of enthusiasm for spending an entire day with Richard, Sirius couldn't help but start to enjoy himself.
The fair was full of laughter, music and colour. Troops of entertainers were everywhere; jugglers, acrobats and a fire-eater were constantly on the move between the stalls and displays. Banners were strung overhead, and balloons of many shapes and colours floated on the air. The crowds swarmed up and down the little pathways between the stalls, buying souvenirs and trying their luck at games of chance. Festive songs could be heard throughout the site, filling the warm summer air.
Richard and Andromeda walked hand in hand, admiring the sights. Ursa was thoroughly excited to experience a Muggle festival. Even Sirius found it difficult to hide how much he was enjoying himself, though he made a point of refusing to look at Richard whilst he was holding his mother's hand.
Andromeda had worn a broad smile on her face from the moment they'd arrived. Being out in the sunshine was a welcome alternative to her dreary laboratory.
Richard had generously given Ursa and Sirius some spending money and told them to 'go and have fun'. Making every effort to be nice, Sirius politely thanked Richard and led Ursa over to where a friendly young woman was selling candyfloss.
Clearly thinking they were out of earshot, Richard turned to Andromeda.
'Surely they ought to have something healthy?' he asked, in a tone that queried why they didn't know any better. 'That is pure sugar, it will rot their teeth -'
'Oh, Richard, don't be such a spoilsport! I love candyfloss! Come on, let's get some before Ursa buys the lot.'
Sirius smirked without looking back. Point for Mum.
Andromeda practically had to drag Richard over to the stall. He looked extremely put out but didn't say another word of protest. He politely declined Andromeda's offer of candyfloss but it didn't stop him paying for hers.
For the next few hours, the four of them continued to explore the site. They came across a display of exotic dancers, dressed in brightly coloured clothes and with large flowers in their hair. A small group of musicians behind them where playing a fast tune with a strong beat, the beautiful dancers moving gracefully to the beat of the drum. A few of the women danced into the gathering spectators, making beckoning motions. Gradually, some brave Muggles edged out of the crowd to dance alongside them, accompanied by the appreciative clapping and cheering of the crowd.
Sirius watched for a few seconds, and then turned to his mother. Taking her hand, he swiftly led her out into the centre. Red with embarrassment, Andromeda had no choice but to dance, laughing gamely at her complete lack of co-ordination. Not bothered if he was making a fool of himself, Sirius shouted to Ursa who instantly ran out into the centre, deliberately moving to dance with the beautiful women in the flowery costumes. They welcomed her into their circle, one staying by her side, slowing down their dance so Ursa could keep up. She looked like she was having the time of her life.
Only Richard stayed in the crowd, stony-faced among the cheering spectators. Sirius didn't care. This was turning out to be the best day he'd had so far this summer; what did one grumpy person matter?
It was quite some time before all three of them became exhausted and detached themselves from the display. Richard emerged from the bustling crowd, full of prise for Andromeda's 'wonderful dancing'. Much to Sirius' continued satisfaction, his mother immediately demanded to know why he hadn't joined in. Richard seemed thrown by her response, reluctantly admitting that he couldn't dance.
'I didn't want to embarrass you,' he said apologetically.
Andromeda rolled her eyes disbelievingly. 'Oh, honestly. Were you even watching what I was doing? I was all over the place! If anyone is an embarrassment, it's me.'
Richard smiled fondly at her, eyes twinkling. 'Now, you could never do that,' he said soothingly. Then he kissed her softly on the lips. 'I hope my doing that in public isn't an embarrassment for you.'
Andromeda blushed, shaking her head. She reached up to kiss him back.
Behind their backs, Sirius was animatedly miming throwing up, making faint choking noises. Ursa started giggling and they both moved off quickly before their mum spotted them.
'Try yer luck, little lady? Three throws for a quid and win a fabulous prize!'
Ursa turned to look over at the elderly gentlemen calling jovially from a nearby stall, tossing a small red ball with one hand. Suspended above his balding head were a multitude of brightly coloured soft toys.
'Mum, can I have a go?' she asked eagerly.
Andromeda looked up at the toys.
'Which one do you want?'
'That one!'
Ursa pointed. Among the toys was a cuddly panda wearing a black top hat and cape. Its black and white fur sparkled with pink and yellow glitter and its eye patches were shaped like stars. A blue plastic tag tied to its paw read '185 points'.
In the centre of the stall stood lots of differently coloured narrow tubes, varying in height and width. Painted on each was a number.
'Get a ball down a tube to score points,' explained the stall keeper, seeing Ursa's eager face. 'The more points yer get, the better the prize. Come and give it a try. If Lady Luck is smiling on yer, yer'll get your panda.'
Sirius stepped over for a closer look. The higher the value of points, the smaller the tube. Closest to the counter were the lower values. 185 points for the panda, three balls. A quick glance at the tubes showed that the only way to get the toy was by putting a ball down a 35, a 50, and the smallest tube of the lot, the 100-point tube.
Ursa handed over a one pound coin and picked up a ball. Aiming high, the ball just missed one of the yellow 50 tubes, falling into a blue 70 tube. Andromeda clapped and gave a little cheer as Ursa grabbed her next ball. It missed the tubes, dropping to land on the straw-hewn floor.
'Don't worry, love, you've still one more ball.' said the stall keeper, handing over the last ball.
But the ball flew up, fell and bounced off the rim of a green 35 tube, then tumbled into a grey 20 point tube.
'90 points!' The old man clapped. 'Well done! Now, would you prefer a lion or a leopard?' He reached up to pull down the cat toys, both baring the 90 point prize tag.
Ursa chose the lion, although her gaze was lingering on the panda swinging on its peg over her head.
Andromeda beamed. 'Isn't he cute? What are you going to call him?'
'Godric,' said Ursa, tucking the fluffy lion under her arm.
Andromeda looked back up at the hanging prizes.
'Did you want another go?'
Ursa shook her head.
'I can't aim properly,' she muttered.
Richard strode over to the old man and put a pound on the counter.
'Three balls, please.' He turned, smiling paternally at Ursa. '185 for the panda, right?'
Ursa's face lit up and she hurried back over to watch. Sirius held back, watching silently.
When Richard's first ball dropped down the 35 tube, Ursa and Andromeda both cheered. The stall keeper leaned against the counter, arms folded. Richard held up his second ball close to his face, aiming for the next tube; a 50. The ball zipped over the tube, missing it by several inches, hit the side of another and fell down a 20 point hole.
Sirius shook his head. Richard was throwing much too hard and aiming too high. There was no way he was going to get another 130 points in one shot. Ursa looked on hopefully as Richard took up his last ball.
It missed every tube by a long shot, sailing over all of them to bounce off the counter on the opposite side and fall out of the stall.
'Ohh, unlucky throw there, sir. Better luck next time, eh? Here yer go.'
The gentlemen handed Richard a long green fuzzy crocodile with purple spots. Ursa stared glumly at it as Richard handed it to her, a strained smile on his face. She took it without a word. Her mother frowned.
'Ursa, what do you say?'
'Thank you, Richard,' said Ursa listlessly. Then she said, 'Could you try again?'
'Er … no, I don't think so,' said Richard. He started to herd them away. 'Those tubes are far too small for the balls - the game's obviously fixed. One can only get a hundred and fifty at the most.'
Andromeda nodded, disappointed. 'Yes, I suppose a lot of these games are easily fixed. Did you see that boy at the coconut shy? Hit two coconuts ever so hard yet they didn't budge.'
'Glued in place, I'd say,' said Richard gruffly. 'It's all a scam really. You'd be better off going to a souvenir shop rather than wasting your money on silly games of chance.'
As they talked, they made their way towards a nearby stand selling spicy biscuits and sweet breads. Ursa trailed behind, clutching the lion and crocodile.
'S'not fair,' she grumbled. 'I wanted another go. Will Mum let me, Siri? Siri?'
She looked about her. Wasn't Sirius beside her a moment ago? Looking back, she spotted her brother walking back towards the ball game stall.
'Siri! Wait for me!'
Her shout drew Andromeda's attention just as Ursa vanished into the crowd.
'Ah, decided to give it a go as well, have you?' asked the old man as Sirius stepped up to him. 'Not as easy as it looks, is it?'
Sirius smiled politely.
'Three balls please.'
Ursa popped up beside him as the old man placed a shallow basket of three red balls up on the counter.
'Back again? You really want this one, dontcha? Suppose I'd better get it ready to go,' he chuckled.
Sirius ignored them both, lining up his shot. The 35 tube wasn't difficult; just a simple toss. The ball sailed over the counter and went straight in. The old man smiled approvingly.
Sirius picked up his next ball.
The 50 tube was higher so he stepped a little closer. In a smooth under-arm swing, the ball left his hand, arched high into the air and dropped neatly into the hole.
A small group of people waiting their turn, clapped politely. Ursa was gripping the counter tightly.
Taking the final ball into his hand, Sirius cautiously eyed up the golden 100 point tube. It was very tall compared to the rest. The hole was very narrow. In fact … Sirius squinted at it, then looked down at the ball. That hole was only just wide enough for the ball to enter from an almost straight drop from above. There was no way it could make it at an angle.
Richard and Andromeda pushed their way through the milling spectators just as Sirius threw the ball sharply up into the air. It shot up and hit the wooden roof of the stall with a hollow thud; it dropped straight down … and into the golden tube.
'185 points!' the old man cried, wide-eyed with amazement and clapping hard. Ursa squealed delightedly. Andromeda simply beamed as the stall keeper unhooked the panda from its peg and gave it to Sirius with a hearty congratulation. Smiling serenely, Sirius presented the glittering panda to his sister. Ursa hugged the panda tightly, stood up on tiptoe and kissed her brother on the cheek. Sirius went red with embarrassment as the people standing around them emitted a chorus of 'Aww' and 'Oh, isn't that cute?'
'Sirius, that was very thoughtful of you,' Andromeda told him as they walked away. 'Where did you learn to throw like that?'
'James showed me. See, if you don't get the angle right then you've got no chance. The ball wasn't going to fit any other way so I had to use the roof to get the angle I needed.'
'Very clever,' said Richard flatly from behind them. No one seemed to have heard him.
Ursa tugged on her mother's sleeve and whispered in her ear. Andromeda nodded and took her hand.
'We'll be right back,' she said. 'Don't go anywhere.' And they headed off in the direction of the toilets, squeezing through the milling crowd in front of a sweet stall. Sirius peered curiously at the sweets. Muggle sweets certainly were strange. Very few flavours to choose from and nothing looked like they would explode or move. Still, such an oddity would undoubtedly amuse the rest of the Marauders. He made to walk over to the stall when -
'I'd like to have a little word with you,' hissed a low voice in his ear.
Sirius turned to find himself almost nose-to-nose with a very angry looking Richard. His cold eyes were narrowed slits.
'Let's get one thing clear, shall we? I don't like people who show me up. People who do that often regret it very quickly. Lucky for you, we're in public. Now,' his voice dropped to a very dangerous whisper, 'it's only for Ann that I'm prepared to let it go this one time, so you'd better learn from your mistakes very quickly … you'll regret making them a second time.'
Sirius met the cold stare challengingly.
'A bit miffed that I won the game and you didn't? Kinda petty, isn't it?'
'You better hold your tongue -'
'Why should I? I can say what I like; you can't stop me.'
'Can't I?' Richard smiled coldly. Sirius was starting to feel a tad nervous.
'Are you threatening me?' he asked quietly, calmly.
Richard glared.
'We're back!'
Andromeda and Ursa emerged from the crowd, oblivious to the tension. Both Sirius and Richard subtly moved away from each other.
'Everything all right?' asked Andromeda, looking between them.
'Peachy,' said Richard, his benign smile back in place.
'Yeah, everything's cool,' quipped Sirius, moving to walk beside Ursa. She was still holding her new panda. The lion and crocodile now resided in a carrier bag out of sight.
They left the fair an hour later. Richard drove them home in his beige Volkswagen, and then left for his apartment on the other side of town.
Andromeda waved until he was out of sight, and then turned to Sirius.
'Well? How are you and Richard getting along now?'
For a moment, Sirius opened his mouth to tell her exactly what his opinion of the git was, but the hopeful half-smile on his mother's face made him pause.
'Er…' He sighed. 'I still don't like him.' Andromeda looked crestfallen. 'But I think we've reached an understanding about yanking each other's chains.'
His mother rolled her eyes.
'Points for effort, I suppose. But thank you, I'm glad you're trying hard. Richard really is such a nice person once you get to know him.'
Sirius nodded.
Yeah, I'll bet.
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To Be Continued*
Please review. All comments and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated.
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Authors NotesStagger – Glad you like it! Yep, plenty has been written. I'm updating once a week every Friday. Hope you'll enjoy the rest of it.
Starlette – I had a lot of fun choosing the names. Tally is named simply for the tally-stripe marks Barred owls have on their feathers, Athena is named for the goddess to whom owls are scared, and Cosmic is named both as starry theme and for the cat that appears in Disney's 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks', my favourite of all Disney films! *ahem* Not that I watch many now; bit old for them I think. Although I did consider naming the cat after the panther in the Jungle Book (can't spell his name off the top of my head.)
As for Andromeda, well, they do say love is blind. Hee hee, hairy butt! ^_^ Amused me no end, that did!
We'll see Sirius' father's reaction shortly, and needless to say he's less than thrilled with the news. I don't think he'd stoop to Muggle Baiting though; he is part of the Law Enforcement Squad. (Of course, rules are made to be broken) You won't see Sirius going back to school, I'm afraid. I set myself a timeframe of the summer holiday just to be sure that I had some idea of how long the fic was going to last for. Glad you like it so far.
MorganD – You'll understand about the booby-traps soon; she didn't set them up just to keep her kids out. ^_^ Got a few chapters to go before the Marauders turn up again. They plan a larger part in the later chapters.
Christy – I have no intention of stopping this fic, no worries! Been working on this for months and I'm quite pleased with the results, but, yes, unfortunately I am sticking to one post a week – I need time to get going on my next fic. It's going to be another long one. ^_^