Disclaimer: All characters related to the Harry Potter series belong to JK Rowling; I'm just borrowing them for my own amusement. The events and characters depicted in this story are fictitious. Any similarities to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events are purely coincidental.
A/N: Wow, finally! This chapter took me way too long. The recent power outage, they've dubbed 'The Blackout of 2003' is partially to blame however. -rolls eyes- but hey, good news! After nearly 5 days we've finally got our clean water back! Weee! I think they were wrong about not having to let it run first tho cuz I had some err...intestinal issues this morning. (lol I'm sorry too much info.) It was quite a pain though. I had nearly nothing to eat on Thursday, not good when you've got touchy blood sugar like me! I had chex mix for dinner Thursday night cuz we had no food (grocery shopping night) therefore I dedicate this chapter to the people at the one open party store my brother Jon and I found Friday morning who actually had some power and sold us 2 large pizza's for $10, and also to Chris at Big Boy's who served us dinner Friday night even though he'd been there serving a mob of people since 6am. THANKS FOR THE FOOD GUYS!
Thankyou's: DTE energy for finally restoring my power at midnight Saturday morning, the dude who announced we can drink water again, and Tropic, BlackPhoenixTears, RavenMirage (Hiya! -waves-), Dragon Voldemort, and AlastorMadeymoody51 for reviewing chapter 4. And a special thanks to all the people who make bottled water, for without you I'd likely be dead. . . or at least, dehydrated. =)
Ok, that's enough talking. . . on with the story!
Chapter Five-Operation: Black Pearl
The new day's sun woke Sirius at only half-passed seven. He felt something heavy on his chest. He looked down to see a peacefully sleeping Keira; her head resting on his chest and her left arm draped lazily across him. That's when Sirius realized that this was the first time in a very long time that he'd felt safe, comfortable, cared for. Tears threatened to fall from his eyes at this sudden surge of emotion.
He gripped the side of the bed, beginning his careful exit from the bed. He knew that Keira would be embarrassed if she woke up in bed with him. Before he was able to complete his mission, one of Keira's bare legs crossed over his thigh. Chills ran through his body and he drew in a sharp breath. He glanced over at her-she was still asleep. Quickly, he forced himself to even out his breathing. 'Sirius mate, it's been too long since you were with a woman.' He thought to himself.
Sirius headed into the bathroom. The tarnished mirror above the tiny sink was the first thing to catch his eye. He snorted. He did look a bit like a corpse. He touched his clean-shaven face and then ran a hand through his freshly cut, tangled black hair. He was a lot closer to looking like his old self then he did before however. He ran the water in the bathtub while he got undressed. He took his shirt off and tossed it aside, not bothering to notice how visible his ribs were. Next, he slid his boxers off, looked at them, and grinned. Smiley faces . . . not something he'd pick out for himself, but surprisingly comfortable. He was about to toss those aside too when he noticed something written on the waistband. "Joe Boxer." Sirius's face screwed up into a look of confusion. Why hadn't he noticed this before? "Are these actually another man's boxer shorts?" The curiosity got the better of him. "Keira!" He shouted, hoping she was awake by now. "Keira sweetie, are you awake?"
Hearing Sirius's seemingly concerned shouts; Keira dragged her butt out of bed and down the hall. Groggily, she opened the bathroom and looked at Sirius through sleep-laced eyes. "Whats-a-matter Sirius?" she mumbled.
Sirius was slightly surprised at her sudden entrance. He turned a slightly uncharacteristic shade of red and fumbled to cover himself with the boxers. Keira didn't seem to even notice. "I... uh, another man's shorts?" he stuttered.
"What?"
Sirius, who naturally tended to talk with his hands, moved his hand as he spoke again, "Who is Joe boxer? I oh, whoops," his face flushed red again as the boxers slipped exposing him again.
Keira yawned, "Joe Boxer is the brand name hun. You're the first one to wear them."
"Ah, right." Sirius avoided her eyes.
"Is that all?" she sounded a bit agitated. He guessed she normally wasn't such a morning person.
"Um, yeah, I'll just uh take a uh shower now."
"Knock yourself out." She mumbled and headed out, closing the door behind her. As she re-entered her room and collapsed back on her bed the realization hit her and her eyes grew twice their normal size. She had just been talking to a naked Sirius in her bathroom. She giggled nervously and then burst out in gut-wrenching laughter Sirius could hear in the bathroom. "He turned so red!" she hooted. She was still roaring with laughter at Sirius's embarrassment when he came out of the bathroom, this time wearing a towel.
He tried his best to scowl at her but her laughter was dangerously contagious. "Bloody hell," he mumbled and bent down to tickle her, causing her to laugh even harder. A minute or so later she was laughing so hard she was crying and begging him to stop.
"Sirius! I'm gonna wet the bed!" she yelled, laughing. Finally, she grabbed his hands and he stopped. "You know Sirius, you really have nothing to be embarrassed about," she said with a cheeky grin, once she had caught her breath. "Really," she stressed, "nothing at all." Sirius grinned despite himself, and felt a bit cocky, no pun intended, and tickled her again.
"Before I lose my towel, where'd you put those clothes?"
Keira had a rather mischievous look on her face. "Hmm, maybe I shouldn't tell you. That towel rather suits you." She checked him out and frowned slightly.
"What?" Sirius questioned.
"I need to feed you baby, you look too much like a skeleton. It's not Halloween yet you know."
'Baby? Did she just call me baby?' now he was talking to himself. 'Yeah she just called you baby, what's wrong with that?' 'Nothing.' 'Exactly, so stop talking to yourself and answer her question.' "Err-sorry, what did you say?"
"D'you want your clothes or not?"
"Yes, please. I'd like to hide my skeleton figure." He deadpanned.
Keira looked at him funny, trying to figure out if he was kidding or not. Sirius smiled at her confusion. "Ahh, you jest." She shook her head and smiled, "Alright, your clothes are in the closet. I got you a pair of jean shorts and a sleeveless shirt. It's supposed to be hot the rest of the week. In case you didn't notice yesterday, which you probably didn't seeing you are a man, your sizes are right because I measured you in your sleep."
Sirius was surprised by how much this touched him. She barely knew him and yet she cared about him enough to get him some clothes. Clothes that fit! Roughly, he pulled her to him and wrapped her up in a rib-crushing hug. Slowly, Keira hugged him back. "Thank you Keira. Thank you so much." She was a bit surprised at his reaction, they were just clothes. However, when she pulled away she could see his eyes were moist.
"Sirius? Are you ok?" He blinked rapidly in succession. "They're just clothes, it's not a big deal."
"It's bigger than you know." He said quietly, "it's been so long since someone has treated me like anything other than a grotesque murderer. My only living best friend, Remus, even thinks I'm a monster I'm sure." He paused a moment, suddenly finding himself lost in Keira's deep brown eyes. "Then you found me and. . . Merlin's beard, Keira! You saved my life." Keira's worried expression crumbled into a huge grin. She stood up and gave him a big hug.
"We're going to be a team, you and me. We're going to clear your name and save Harry!" Keira exclaimed, pure excitement flowing in her veins. Sirius laughed. "It's our mission." She looked deep in thought for a minute and then the grin returned. "We'll call it Operation: Black Pearl!" Sirius raised one eyebrow.
"Operation: Black Pearl?"
"Yeah! Lots of times when we go to war they give things special names, like Operation: Desert Storm!" Sirius just blinked. "Anyway," she continued, "it's cool to have a special name. You want to be cool dontchya Sirius?" Sirius narrowed his eyes.
"I'm already cool. I'm just wondering where in the world you came up with that name, Black Pearl."
"Oh! Well your last name is Black-"
"Good observation captain obvi-"
"Would ya let me finish? Your last name is black and my mom's maiden name was Pearl. Get it?" Sirius had to hand it to her; the girl was creative.
"Sounds good, can I put some clothes on now?" Keira half-shrugged.
"Yep, go ahead. I'm going to take a shower." She grabbed some clothes and then turned back to face Sirius, "Sirius about last night. . . thank you." She said with a coy smile and entered the bathroom.
"So this is Sponge Bob Square Pants?"
"Yes sir; and that pink thing is Patrick."
"Ok, who's this guy?" Sirius pointed to the screen.
"That is Squidword." Sirius opened his mouth to speak. "And that is Mr. Crabs." Keira said, answering his unasked question.
"Interesting." Sirius was lounging on the couch eating a variety of snacks Keira had purchased for him. Cheez-Its, doughnuts, starbursts, popcorn, potato chips, chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream (which Sirius declared was "bloody fantastic") rice krispie treats, a bag of marshmallows, chocolate covered pretzels, and a banana. Sirius glanced around at the odd variety of treats. "Keira, how did you decide what to buy?"
"I closed my eyes, spun around and pointed." She said seriously. She was sitting at her computer working on her story covering Sirius for the newspaper.
"So you pointed to one banana?"
"Well, no, I picked that out. I figured you should eat something healthy." Sirius laughed and popped another marshmallow in his mouth. "Right." Sirius concentrated on Keira. He felt . . . what did he feel for her? She was a stranger after all; maybe he was making a mistake trusting her so fast so soon. Hell, he trusted Peter Pettigrew and look how that turned out. Sirius scowled at the thought. She was a muggle though, it's not like she could hex him or use the Cruciatus curse on him. 'It's more than that and you know it.' He told himself. Maybe . . . he did feel an urgency to keep her safe. 'More than that.' His brain nagged him. Well she is beautiful. Sirius watched as Keira tucked some of her dark brown hair behind her ear. She wanted to help him get to Harry, that was a plus . . .
"Sirius?" Keira tore Sirius from his thoughts.
"Hmm?"
"What's the name for what you are again? An ani what?"
"Animagus." He replied, taking another handful of Cheez-Its and returning his attention to the strange cartoon.
Keira was sound asleep on the couch. After working diligently all day, she finished her story. She lay down on the couch with her head in Sirius's lap and asked him to tell her about one of the Marauders' adventures. Sirius had barely spoken two words before she was asleep, oblivious to the world. Sirius sat peacefully for a while watching her sleep and stroking her hair. However, he found himself feeling bored and restless. Carefully he got up and walked over to her small bookshelf. Romance novels? Pass. Steven King? Pass. Witches and Wizards of the fifteenth century? Interesting. Sirius pulled the large book from the shelf and opened it. "What the, ohh. . ." Sirius mumbled. It was a hollow book. Inside the book was a much smaller book. It was midnight blue with a moon and star on the front. Sirius Black was too nosy for his own good. He opened the cover of the tiny book. There was an inscription inside, "Keira, write your thoughts down in here so you avoid having to stick your foot in your mouth. Love, Jenna." Sirius chuckled. He knew he shouldn't but he flipped through a couple of pages, skimming some and skipping others. He stopped though when he reached the last page. Compared to the others, this page was written very carefully and neatly. However, the words really grabbed his attention.
June 23rd
I can stop the pain if I will it all away.
Connor- Fifty thousand tears I've cried, screaming, deceiving, and bleeding for you. And you still won't hear me. I don't want your hand this time. I'll save myself. Maybe I'll wake up for once, not tormented daily, defeated by you.
Just when I thought I'd reached the bottom . . .
I'm going under, I've got to break through. You're always confusing the thoughts in my head so I can't trust myself anymore. Go on and scream! Scream at me, I'm so far away. I can't be broken again.
"Sirius? What are you doing?" Keira asked from behind him. He turned around, the journal still open in his hands. He had a newfound respect for her strength. She was amazing. "You've been reading my journal?" she asked in a small voice that didn't belong to her. She pulled it from his hands and read the page he'd been reading. She shut the book and threw it across the room. Calmly, she turned and sat down on the couch.
"Keira?" Sirius approached her delicately. She ignored him. He sat down next to her and took her hand. "Come on, we're a team remember? Do you want to talk about it?" She shook her head no. She looked deflated. "Well-"
"Shut up Sirius." Her voice was lower than normal. Suddenly she looked, and acted like a fire was just lit within her. She turned and faced him. She crawled towards him on the couch. Sirius looked at her bewildered. She was practically in his lap now. She reached up a hand and ran it along the side of his face and then over his lips. "I like you Sirius." She purred, now pulling herself into his lap. "You're a good guy." She ran her fingers through his hair and then kissed his neck.
"Urm... Ke...Keira-"
"I want you Sirius."
TBC . . .Oh dear, poor Sirius, what a predicament. -Eats a handful of Cheez-Its and watches Sirius ponder his next decision.-
The words used in Keira's journal entry are hers in the story but in reality, the property of Evanescence, I claim no ownership. I just really like the song. =)
Please review! I'll try and get chapter six up soon!