Hey guys!
*ducks quickly, narrowly avoiding all the garbage being thrown at her* I know! I know! And I'm so sorry!!! It's been like . . . over four months? =/
Man . . . I am thoroughly disgusted with the fact that the last time I've updated was Thanksgiving break . . . *eyes bulge out* Damn . . . I have been sooooo busy I can't even BEGIN to tell you how crazy my schedule has been. Now that it is SPRING break, I finally strapped myself down in front of the computer and decided to make a little birthday present for myself (my big day is the 13th and I'll be 16 years old). LOL!
And all I can say now is . . . *phew!* . . . got another one out and lord knows that summer is coming up and once again, I'll be able to pump out the chapters like no tomorrow and finally finish this hefty piece of work! Hehe! And it felt sooooooo righteous to be writing again! I can't tell you how nice it was to sit down at the computer and get reacquainted with the characters again. I gave Joey and Sirius each a huge hug and kiss and apologized for temporarily putting them on hold as school and sports decided to consume my ENTIRE life.
And Most IMPORTANTLY: Thank you SO MUCH to every one of you who has stuck by and read and reviewed LoY for every 26 chapters that I have posted so far! And now that I'm on #27, I hope this chapter is still up to par and you enjoy it! R&R and I will love you forever! Thanks a bundle!
-Sara
You're the twinkle in my eye, the wind behind my sail, the laughter in my life, the apple of my eye. -Unknown
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"Sirius, I swear if you don't roll that window up I'm going to make you sit in the back!" Joey said with a laugh as she shook her head at her impossible boyfriend. Sirius had the passenger window of Joey's convertible rolled down all the way and he was leaning so far forward that his head was practically sticking out of it. "You know, there really wasn't any point in putting the top up on the convertible if you were just going to make us freeze to death that way!"
Sirius pulled away from the window and flashed Joey a cheesy smile. His hair was terribly windblown and the moisture in the frosty air had caused it to form a giant cowlick in the middle. Joey had to choke back a laugh as she was trying to show him she was serious about rolling the window up.
"Sorry, Joey. It's just that I never get to sit up front, you know? . . . and especially not in a car like this," he added as an after thought while he rolled up the window. Joey knew that all of Sirius' car experiences involved him sitting in the back of a fancy vehicle with a chauffeur driving him wherever he needed to go.
"Well, do you have to stick your head out the window like that? You remind me of a dog." Sirius let out an ironic bark of laughter as Joey flashed him a cheeky smile.
"Perhaps like a big black dog with a shaggy coat?" he said teasingly. "Can't imagine what would give you that crazy idea!" Joey giggled.
"No, actually I was thinking more like one of those blood hounds with the long ears and saggy faces," she said, failing miserably to hold the serious expression on her face. "You know the ones I'm talking about. . . they stick their head out the car window and their lips flap in the wind, drool flying all over the place?"
Sirius made a face at her and acted like he was pouting. "Well I'm sorry I seem so repulsive to you."
"Yup," Joey flashed a brassy grin at the animagus next to her as he smugly stuck his tongue out right back at her.
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"For crying out loud, Sirius! Just try it on real fast!" Joey said impatiently. "This is like the tenth jacket that you've refused to even touch!"
"Not true!" he said petulantly, refusing to take the black bulbousy thing that Joey held out to him. "I tried on that other blue one and it didn't fit me right!"
"That's because it was about three sizes too small on you. And, besides that, I never even asked you to try that one on . . . it wasn't even a ski jacket!"
"But the point is, that I tried it on," he said defiantly. Joey rolled her eyes at him.
"I swear you're harder to shop for than Brian is!" Joey vented. Sirius gave her a sheepish smirk. She heaved a sigh and held the jacket out to him one more time, a pleading look across her delicate features. He looked down at the jacket distastefully and reluctantly took it out of her outstretched hand. Rather somberly, and careful to not mess up the clothes he already had on, Sirius slipped the coat over his well built shoulders and dropped his arms to his sides, waiting for Joey's inspection.
"There, see?" she said matter-of-factly as she pulled him in front of a mirror that was stationed in the middle of the coat store. "Look how handsome you look. The black contrasts really well with your eyes and the lining in this jacket will keep you warm while the water-proof shell will keep you dry." Sirius continued to giver her a resentful look. "What's wrong now?" she asked.
"It's puffy!" he whined. "I look like a burnt marshmallow!" Joey's annoyed expression deadpanned for a moment just before she burst out laughing. Sirius continued to stand there patiently, his eyebrows high up on his forehead, as Joey continued to express her amusement.
It took Joey a moment to try and sober herself before she caught a hold of her breath and tried to speak. But when she looked into Sirius' face which still had a pathetically tortured expression on it, she was consumed with an entirely fresh batch of giggles.
"Alright, already! Take it off!" she choked out exasperatedly. Sirius hastily pulled the jacket off and chucked it back onto the rack. He gave Joey a satisfied beam and allowed her to take his hand and lead him off towards a different store. "If you refuse to try out any jackets, then we'll go look at some ski pants."
Sirius suppressed a groan as they wandered into yet another store. It wasn't long before Joey was holding pants up to him to get an idea of his size.
"Well, at least you're an easy fit," she said thankfully. "Just like Brian, tall and skinny. It'll be no problem finding the right size."
"You mean no one is going to measure me?" Sirius asked incredulously. Joey smirked.
"No, this isn't like Madam Malkin's, where you have a tailor measure up your inseam and practically dress you, as well. Here, you have to pick out clothes and use a changing room to try 'em on."
Sirius gave her one of those 'what the heck are you talking about' looks. Joey laughed at his expression, grabbed another pair of pants that might fit and led him by his hand towards the dressing rooms.
Joey let out an annoyed sigh when there was no one in the dressing rooms to give them a stall. The only other person that she could see in the changing room was a fairly elderly woman who seemed to be waiting for her granddaughter in the partition she was standing next to. The woman was paying absolutely no attention to them and Joey found this rather comforting. However, she did lead Sirius down to the opposite side of the dressing room, clearly out of earshot. She didn't need the lady over- hearing her explaining to her boyfriend how to use a dressing room.
When Joey found the best looking compartment she could, she simply stuffed the pairs of pants into Sirius' hands and pointed into the little room. "I want to see them on you before you say 'no'," she said with a serious, yet amused tone.
Sirius took one look into the cubicle and gave a disgusted look. There were clothes strewn all across the floor and still hanging up on the hooks of the wall from the stall's previous occupants. The mirror on one side of the compartment was pretty scratched up, and the little box-like seat in the corner didn't look like it could support a pair of pants, let alone a person.
"You have GOT to be kidding me," he said rather snottily. Joey heaved a sigh, and, suppressing her giggles yet again, entered the cubicle. She made a quick sweep of the area by taking all of the extra clothing and chucking it outside the door and to the side of the dressing room.
"Okay, now go try that stuff on," she said rather hopefully. It sounded more like a command than a request.
"You really want me to get undressed in this thing?" he asked hesitantly, making sure that Joey could sense the apprehension in his tone.
"Sirius! That's it!" Joey said obdurately, grabbing him by the belt and yanking him with her into the dressing room, barely stopping to slam the door shut behind her.
Sirius barely had time to let out a squeak before Joey shoved him back in the unstable-looking seat and began yanking his shoes off. "If you're going to be such a baby about trying these clothes on, them I'm just going to have to act like your mother and dress you for you."
Sirius was too shocked to even express his amusement as Joey pulled him back to his feet and began undoing his belt. "Joey, are you seriou-" his inquiry was stopped short as Joey began undoing the buttons of his pants. He began laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation. He was, of course, enjoying this immensely.
"But you're not going to- OKAY, you ARE," he interrupted his own train of thoughts. Sirius let out a pathetic laugh as Joey pulled his pants down to his ankles in a flash, leaving him standing there in his boxers. He stepped out of his pants and Joey chucked him the first new pair of ski pants for him to try on.
"You mean you're not going to put them on for me?" he asked with a tone that sounded like genuine disappointment. Joey didn't bother suppressing a smile as she stuck her tongue out at him.
"You're enjoying this way too much," she said with a laugh.
"Yeah. Well, you know, shopping suddenly seems like so much more fun when you have a pretty girl undressing you," he said thoughtfully.
"I bet," she mumbled as Sirius began, disappointedly, to pull the water- proof pants up his athletic legs on his own. When he pulled the pants up as far as he wanted and began zipping them up, Joey soon realized she was going to have to intervene once again. "Sirius, there's no way you're going to be able to ski with your pants sagging that much."
Sirius looked up at her from his efforts of zipping his pants and frowned. "There's no way I'm going to hike my pants up my butt," he said with a tone serious enough to crack a smile on his girl friend's face. Joey took a step forward and pried his hands away from the clasp on the pants that he was still having trouble closing.
"I never said up your butt," she replied, trying to imitate the ridiculously serious tone of his voice. She gripped the sides of the waistband of his pants and pulled them up another inch or two before she began fixing the clasp for him.
Sirius was trying desperately to keep the frown on his face from the fact that Joey had pulled his pants up, but the idea that she was now, once again, fiddling with the clasp of his pants, was making the situation rather giggle-inducing.
"I think this zipper and clasp is broken. . . It doesn't seem to want to move any more," she said matter-of-factly. ". . . I guess you should just try on the next pair."
"Well, that could work, except for the fact that I won't be able to get them off now because the zipper is stuck," Sirius said rather dryly. Truth be told, however, he really didn't mind having Joey sitting there trying to get it to work. Joey gave him a suspicious glare and went to toil to try and get the fastener to budge again.
"What is with this zipper. . ." she grumbled to herself. Sparing Sirius half an apologetic glance, she had to make a double-take when she noticed the expression on his face.
Sirius was now pressing his lips together so tightly to keep from laughing that they formed a thin line across his face. His eyes, however, were revealing the hilarity in his expression. Joey cocked an eyebrow at him and just shook her head.
"You better wipe that smirk off you face," she said with a lightheartedly threatening tone. She was now having trouble keeping herself from laughing. The smile broke out on her boyfriend's face and she had to poke him in the stomach.
"What?!" he asked, trying to a great extent to sound innocent. "YOU'RE the one who is playing with MY zipper. . . I'm completely guiltless here!"
"Guiltless?" Joey let out a snort of sardonic laughter. "Who, my dear, are you trying to fool?" Sirius just stood there with a charming smile on his face, lighting up his eyes. Leaning in and standing up a bit on her tip toes, Joey planted a soft kiss on his bottom lip. When she began to lean back to pull out of the kiss, she soon realized that Sirius had already snaked his arms around her waist and was holding her to him.
"Where do you think you're going, *my dear*?" he asked, being sure to emphasize on the repetition of Joey's very own words. Smiling brightly, Joey leaned in for another kiss, a deep growl of laughter resonating from her boyfriend's chest.
"We're supposed to be trying to get you out of those pants," she whispered against his soft lips. Sirius' laughter grew louder and, quickly realizing what he was thinking, Joey just grinned and slowly shook her head at his suggestiveness. As he continued to plant several tender kisses on her mouth, Joey finally gave in and allowed him to deepen the kiss.
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It was about half an hour later and Joey had finally convinced Sirius into getting one nice pair of black, slippery ski pants that seemed to fit him just right. He seemed to be in a much lighter mood now that they were finally making some progress in finding him some ski wear, not to mention the new use he found for the dressing rooms.
Every time they made their way into a new store, Joey found herself having to be pulled along into every changing room to 'help dress' her boyfriend. She really didn't mind this at all, however, since it was actually getting Sirius to be a willing shopper, and she certainly got a nice view of his fit body. The scattered giggles and sweet kisses weren't bad either. She just had to draw the line at the point when he suggested that they start 'shopping for her.'
Before they new it, it was a few hours later and they were practically done shopping for the day. They had even done some Christmas shopping for Joey's family, and Joey had managed to teach Sirius about muggle money, exchanging a good amount of his wizarding money with some of her own muggle money so that he, too, could buy her family some gifts. Deciding that they were now significantly hungry enough to take a lunch break, they began making their way over to the food court.
"Joey, when am I going to get a chance to shop for you for Christmas?" Sirius asked curiously, giving her hand that he was holding a little squeeze. Joey smirked at his inquiry.
"I still have to shop for you, too," she admitted with a laugh. "But I don't think it's such a good idea to split up in here and let you wander about on your own." Sirius grinned at the mental image.
"Yeah, you're right. I'd probably end up getting lost in some baby clothing store." Joey chuckled softly. "And besides," he continued, "I think I'd rather get you something that's . . . non-muggle," he finished awkwardly.
"I was thinking the same thing," she laughed. "Maybe we can make a trip to Diagon Alley tomorrow?" Sirius shrugged, pressing his lips together in contemplation.
"I don't know if there is much to look for in Diagon Alley," he said thoughtfully.
"Well, actually, there is a very nice wizarding mall in America. I'm fairly confident we could split up there, and, without getting too lost, be able to do some Christmas shopping successfully."
Sirius grinned at her, "That sounds great!" he replied. He already had half a mind what he wanted to get her, but she didn't need to know that.
Joey grinned back at him. Little did he know that she knew exactly what kind of gift she wanted to get him. She just hoped that he would like it.
They got in line to buy some sandwiches and the conversation moved off onto a lighter subject of what else they needed to buy to complete their day of shopping.
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When they returned back to the Atramentous household late that afternoon, they had found only Sam and Brian home, the rest of the house vacant. Mr. and Mrs. Atramentous had gone out to do some more Christmas shopping in Diagon Alley, and Josh and Erin had gone out to spend a little time with each other alone.
When Sirius and Joey found them, both boys were off doing their own thing in their own rooms. This didn't surprise Joey, since Sam and Brian were the two people in the Atramentous family that didn't seem to get along completely well. It wasn't that they loved each other any less than any of their other family members; it was simply the matter that they were complete opposites in almost every way, making them prone to arguing and bickering.
As younger boys, Sam and Brian found themselves arguing constantly, never really letting the other alone. But as they grew older and more mature, the bickering began to die away to a rare occasion, and they resorted more to just conversing little and avoiding the other skillfully. As long as there was civility in the Atramentous home, Betty and Paul weren't particularly anal about having their boys be best buddies with each other . . . especially not between Sam and Brian.
Brian, being the more serious, more loving, and quieter, brunette son of the Atramentous family, contrasted drastically with Sam who was blonde, constantly cheerful with everyone, and in possession of a dry, sarcastic humor. Sam's idea of fun was goofing around and acting crazy with a bunch of friends, and this did not suite well at all with Brian's constant need to be in control of the situation and understand everything that was going on and would be in the near future. This probably explained why Sam was working to be a medi-wizard and Brian was working with the order. It was the difference between Sam's love of working with people and Brian's love of being well informed on certain ways that he could help his people by fighting crime.
Despite these differences, Joey loved both of them very much. She did, however find a much closer connection to Brian, for what reasons she wasn't completely sure. (Perhaps it was a brunette thing.)
And minding that issue, Joey and Sirius didn't bother to think much of their detachment, and went about lounging in the family room. Sirius was quite mesmerized by muggle electronics, and he was keeping himself quite entertained by pressing as many buttons as he possibly could on the remote control, watching in amazement as the television screen changed channel after channel. After laughing for a good ten minutes about Sirius' new obsession, Joey eventually got bored and flipped open a book, while comfortably draping her feet over Sirius' lap.
They were sitting like this for a good half hour before her parents returned home from their shopping spree.
"Kids!" Mrs. Atramentous called as she entered the house through the door that led into the garage. Flam came flying from off her shoulder to join the couple in the family room. "Kids, we're back! How was your day?" There was a huge booming sound coming from the upstairs, and it was obvious that both boys from the second floor had immerged from their rooms, and were now bounding hazardously down the stairs.
Suddenly, Mrs. Atramentous stopped dead in her tracks and began fiddling with all the packages in her arms, trying her best to hide what she had bought.
"Hey, Mum!" Both boys chimed in unison looking rather interested in what she was carrying. "Here, let us help you with those . . ." It suddenly became very clear to Betty, Sirius, and Joey as to why both boys were so excited to see that their parents had returned home.
"Oh, no you don't . . ." Mrs. Atramentous said sounding a bit accusatory. "It seriously disturbs me to think that even at 19 and 21, two of my sons have a horrible habit of snooping for Christmas presents." Both boys grinned at her rather guiltily and Sirius and Joey began laughing to themselves.
"Why don't you two go and help you father carry in a few of Josh and Joey's gifts?" Betty finally suggested. "You can at least make yourselves useful now that you are downstairs."
Both boys suppressed a groan and then proceeded out into the garage where they knew their father was unloading more packages from the car. When the door swung shut, Mrs. Atramentous started up the stairs mumbling to herself about how sad it was that it took four tries before she finally had a daughter. Sirius and Joey exchanged looks and laughed some more before they returned to what they were doing, Joey now idly stroking her soft owl.
When Mr. Atramentous entered the family room a little while later, he was grinning broadly down at the couple sharing the couch together.
"You guys will never guess who we ran into at Diagon Alley today," he began. He waited until he had both of their attentions before continuing. "Do you guys remember Mrs. Capman, the little old lady from down the street? When you two were younger, apparently you used to wander over there during the summers and harass her for cookies and other goodies . . ."
Joey and Sirius smiled at the memory. "I would hardly call it harassment, father," Joey said matter-of-factly. "We would simply wander over there to greet her good morning, and if she just so happened to have had a few cookies on hand . . . well, she would just kindly offer them . . ." Sirius nodded in agreement, trying to keep the smile on his face as innocent as possible.
"Mhmm . . ." Paul answered with his uncertain concurrence. "Yes, well, whatever the case may be, she seemed to have absolutely fallen in love with Sirius, judging by the way she rambled on about him. You never would have thought that you guys had practically made it a daily venture to wipe out her pantry each afternoon."
"Well . . . you have to keep in mind that it wasn't just HER pantry, dad," Joey rationalized. "We did make the rounds about the neighborhood . . ." Paul and Sirius both let out a snort of sardonic laughter in unison.
"Had to make it fair, you know," Sirius goaded on in mock seriousness, making the effort to tease his girlfriend. Joey scrunched up her nose at him and playfully poked him in the side with one of her feet that had been sitting on his lap.
"Well, whatever the case may have been . . . Mrs. Capman seemed beyond ecstatic with the idea that you, Sirius, would be staying here with us for a few days. She even had half the mind to invite herself to dinner tonight." Sirius and Joey exchanged nearly horrified looks. Mrs. Capman's visit held the promise of big wet kisses that left the classic, 'bright right lipstick smudge' on a cheek in its wake.
Sirius looked back at Mr. Atramentous and gave him a forced, yet obviously uncertain smile. "It'll be . . . good to see Mrs. Capman again," he said sounding almost in pain. Joey failed miserably to try and stifle her giggles. Paul gave her an obligatory disapproving glance before looking back at Sirius.
"That's the spirit, my boy," he encouraged along with a hearty pat on the shoulder. "We'll all suffer together . . . just don't tell Betty I said that . . ." the trio broke up into laughter as Paul got up and left the room. Little did they realize at the time, however, that the evening's affair would turn out much bigger than they had planned.
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It was around five thirty when the doorbell rang and Sirius, Joey, and her parents were all sitting in the kitchen at the time. Joey had left Flam in her room with his dinner, thinking it best that he not get in the middle of an old lady's need to pinch cheeks and offer big, red smooches.
"That must be Mrs. Capman," Betty said confidently to the couple sitting at the table. "Would you get the door for us, dears?" Joey and Sirius exchanged a look but got up to answer the door, nonetheless.
However, when they opened the door, instead of seeing Mrs. Capman standing there, it seemed like everyone in the neighborhood except Mrs. Capman was at the Atramentous' doorstep . . . (all the little old ladies in their neighborhood, at least.)
"What the-?" shot out of Joey's mouth before she could stop herself. "Ummm . . . dad?" Joey called to her father from the foyer. Mr. Atramentous was standing beside his daughter in a flash, and the look on his face was quite inexplicably surprised.
"Mrs. Johnson, Ms. Turnpike, Ms. Lintork, Mrs. Wilpser. . ." He stuttered. There had to have been at least 7. . . no, 8, old ladies on their doorstep . . . none of which was Mrs. Capman, mind you. "What are you all doing here?" he tried to ask as politely as possible.
"Well," Ms. Turnpike began, the Jell-O salad resting in her arms jiggling slightly, "when Gladys Capman came home from Diagon Alley this afternoon bragging about how she was going over to the Atramentous' this evening to have supper with the family and SIRIUS BLACK . . . we all just decided that we wanted to come and say 'hi,' as well!" All the old ladies around her nodded in agreement. The next one to speak was Mrs. Wilpser, and as she did, she was trying to peak around Joey and her father to get a better view of Sirius who was now practically hiding in the background behind the two.
"We all remember Sirius and what a cute and polite little gentleman he was . . ." the white-haired woman said, a slight blush easily detected on her heavily made-up face. "When we heard he was in town . . . we ALL just had to see what a handsome young man he had grown into."
At this point, Joey was about to burst into fits of giggles. This was beyond obvious in her expression as her lips were squeezed together so tightly and her cheeks were practically bunched up into her eyes. In a desperate attempt to make the situation even more amusing, she backed-up to open the door wider, and, in effect, allowed Sirius to be standing in full view of the group of ladies.
"Well, do please come in," was all Paul managed to get out before he was practically shoved out of the way by the heard of ladies. His pleas for them to calm down and not shove were completely lost in the commotion of cheek pinches, forceful hugs, and big, wet, and colorful kisses on the poor teenage boy who was lost somewhere in the mass of ladies.
By the time the greeting was over, Sirius was exhausted, out of breath, and in possession of a forehead and two cheeks that had a greater array of colors on them than a box of fruit-loops. All of the ladies had finally pushed their way into the kitchen, along with all of their pots of Jell-O salad and baked goods. Mrs. Atramentous had welcomed them all graciously, yet in surprise.
Shock and surprise certainly seemed to be the common emotion in the air at the Atramentous home. Joey, however, from the moment she clicked the door shut, could not, for whatever power she contained inside of her, stop laughing. Even when she thought she had gotten a hold of herself, when she took one look at the state of Sirius' face and hair, she just about died again.
Not only was his face an assortment of all kinds of reds, pinks, and purples, but his hair, too, was so messed- up and sticking straight up that it was obvious that each woman had to have run her hands through those silky chocolate locks that Joey loved so much, as well.
"You look so . . . so . . ." she managed to gasp out as her legs practically crumbled below her, weak from laughing so hard. Sirius took a few steps closer to her and helped her continue standing, his expression completely patient, but clearly not finding the situation humorous.
"So . . .?" Sirius tried coaxing her to finish the statement. Joey finally managed to sober herself again and tried patting his hair down in the back where the ladies had messed it up the most.
"So . . ." Joey was at a loss for words. The situation was utterly ridiculous. But before she could answer anyways, the doorbell rang again. Sirius' face was horror-struck as another load of old women appeared at the door step, smiling and waving at him before they all began filing into the foyer, past Joey, and towards the charming gentleman that looked as if he were their prey. He managed to give Joey a pathetically fleeting glance before the swarm of women passed over him.
"My mother's in the kitchen!" Joey called over the loud gasping and 'goochie-goo'-ing, in an effort to coax the ladies out of the way. Lucky for them it worked, and they were once again left breathless and alone in the foyer.
"Man! That last batch was worst than the first!" he griped pitifully. "I think I felt a couple of them grab my bum!" Joey burst out laughing and gave Sirius a loving hug.
"But you really do look so adorable when your cheek is pinched," she offered.
"Oh yeah?" he asked, "But you are going to have to specify which cheek are you referring to . . . because all four were certainly getting some pinching action." Joey broke down into giggles again.
"I'm jealous!" she giggled. "Those are my cheeks! It's so sad that some old lady is getting more action than I am!"
"Well I don't feel bad for you!" he said, now laughing rather blithely. "It wasn't YOUR bum getting pinched! Imagine how I feel!"
"Well, I guess I'll just have to make it up to you later, then," she whispered in his ear. Sirius had to suppress the shiver that ran up his spine as Joey planted a soft kiss on his neck. She ran one of her hands up the back of his neck and into his disheveled hair, pulling his head down to meet her lips.
The two remained kissing quietly in the vestibule when a familiar sound was heard distantly booming down the stairs. "Hey guys; What was all that noise that I heard befo-"
The shriek that ensued from behind them was enough to break them apart, though.
Brian's face was petrified as he gaped at the couple standing in front of him. "WHAT are you two DOING in here?!" he finally managed to sputter out in disgust.
"Not exactly the brightest crayon in the box . . ." Joey growled out at the interruption that was her brother. Sirius lightly elbowed her in the ribs to be nice. "I'd say it was pretty obvious," she finally ended with.
Brian was standing there looking shocked at his baby sister. Joey held back a smile as the idea of a 'loss of innocence' could easily describe this situation for her brother . . . a loss of her brother's innocence in realizing that she wasn't just his 'baby' sister anymore.
"It was a fairly harmless kiss," Sirius tried to smooth over the situation. Brian's shocked gape at his sister suddenly changed direction and was now pointed at Sirius. To put it nicely, he looked a little short of civil.
"I don't really care WHAT you guys do behind closed doors . . ." he started out, "but unless you are behind them . . . I really don't want to see or hear any of it. The tongues, the busy hands . . . the whole deal . . . it's just too . . . nauseating." Sirius choked on the spit in his mouth as he tried to swallow. Brian was making a right scene of things and it was cracking him up.
Now that the couple was looking rather embarrassed, they could do nothing but nod along in agreement. Brian let out a satisfied 'harrumph' and stalked off into the kitchen. Joey looked over at Sirius and gave him an apologetic smirk.
"Being the only girl in the family, let alone the 'baby sister,' has its disadvantages," she reasoned. Sirius smiled down at her and nodded knowingly.
"So I've gathered," he replied as the two of them headed into the kitchen, as well.
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Aside from the surprise visits and old-lady rampages, the night turned out to be a wonderful affair. The enormous dinner was a delicious feast, and there were more than a couple meals-worth of left-overs in the fridge. The entire neighborhood was back in their own homes by nine o'clock, and nine thirty found the Atramentous family, Erin and Sirius all squeezed into the comfortable family room, sipping coffee and tea as they were.
"So I think we'll have to think twice before inviting Sirius to stay with us again," Mr. Atramentous teased. "Not if it means having to host a senior citizen banquet every time we do." The living room was alive with laughter.
"I think what you MEAN is that you'll think twice before informing random old ladies on the street about who our house guests are," remarked Josh. The laughing grew louder and the agreeing nods were seen around the room. They eventually grew quiet and sat in silence for a few minutes, taking the opportunity to sit carefully out of their hot mugs.
"You do have to admit, though . . ." Brian thought aloud. "Ms. Turnpike makes one hell-of-a good Jell-O salad." Joey chucked a cushion at her smart-ass brother and the laughing filled the room once again.
Around a quarter to midnight, the whole lot that was lounging in the family room was yawning and looking rather sleepy. Betty suggested that Sirius go up and get ready for bed and that Joey would supply him linens and kindly his dress the bed for him in Brian's room. Joey nodded in consent, knowing full well that there was no way she would be making that bed for Sirius all by herself, whether he was her guest or not.
By the time they were ready for bed and Flam was let outside for a night of hunting, they headed down the hall to grab some linen to dress his bed. Sirius was clad out in another pair of his cutsie boxers (these ones had doggie chew-bones all over them) and some old Gryffindor t-shirt that he had owned since 5th year, while Joey was wearing her favorite yellow PJ pants and a loose, v-necked grey shirt. Joey was a little disappointed in Sirius' decision to wear a shirt, but she didn't say anything since the idea of being half naked in an unfamiliar house, let alone an unfamiliar bed, would probably have been a been a bit uncomfortable for him.
When they had finished tucking in the blankets and sheets, Joey folded them back nicely before standing up straight and smiling over at Sirius who was standing on the end of the bed looking at her rather interestedly.
She was about ready to hop into the bed on her side when some one knocked on the door and entered before either could answer. Actually, that 'someone' turned out to be more like a group of a few people; Betty, Paul, and Brian consisting.
"Just wanted to say goodnight and make sure everything was set," Betty said rather motherly.
"Oh, yes, of course. Everything is just perfect, thank you," Sirius said politely.
"Well, the house gets bitterly cold at night, so I brought you some extra blankets," she continued, smiling warmly as Sirius took the quilts and thanked her kindly. Silence ensued. Gathered around Sirius' room in their sleepwear, the small assembly of people was looking rather uncomfortable with not having anything else to say.
"We just finished making the bed," Joey said rather needlessly. The three people standing in the doorway each gave her a look in unison that clearly stated 'thank you Captain Obvious.' Joey gave a curt nod and stood there rather awkwardly. She couldn't help notice the suspicious glare that Brian seemed to be flashing between her and her boyfriend.
"Well good night, then!" Joey chimed in with a lack of anything else to say. She kissed her mother, father, and brother on the cheeks and then looked uneasily over at Sirius. Taking a few steps closer she gave him a rather discomfited and boxy hug, feeling the weight of her family's eyes on her back. She flashed them another forced smile and exited the room through the bathroom door that eventually led into her room.
With Joey gone, Paul, Betty and Brian all bid Sirius good night and headed off towards their own rooms. Sirius couldn't help but laugh to himself at the thought that they intentionally said an extra goodnight to them just to see what the two of them were up to.
He eventually turned off the lights and slid into bed. Staring up at the ceiling through the darkness, the memories of Brian's outrage at finding him and Joey kissing brought a smile to his face. It was kind of funny to think about it. Poor Joey and him would probably never get a moment alone with her having such a big family around 24/7. Sirius continued to stare up at the ceiling in Brian's room, willing sleep to come.
Just as his eyes began to drift closed, he heard foot steps somewhere close by, outside his room. Though faint, Sirius' canine abilities perked up instantly and he found himself lying completely still, ears straining to hear better. That's when a door could be heard beginning to creak open. His eyes darted over towards the door that led out to the hallway, but he soon realized that that door was still.
He laid there quietly for another moment before he heard a door creaking open once again. This time his eyes darted over towards the door leading into the bathroom and he could see a slim, shadowy figure slink over towards him in the darkness. A smile crept over his face and Joey could practically hear it in his tone as he spoke.
"Now what do you think YOU'RE doing at this late hour in MY bedroom?" he asked with an obviously bantering tone.
"Ummm . . ." Joey's sweet whisper rung out in the darkness, "I was . . . cold?" Sirius snorted with laughter.
"No you weren't," he laughed as he held open the covers and she slid in next to him. When he put the covers down around her, she had buried her face underneath the comforter and out of view.
"I could have been cold," she mumbled from somewhere under the blankets. Laughing, Sirius pulled the blankets up over his head as well so he and Joey were face to face in the pitch black. He could still see her alright as long as he held the covers up slightly. Being practically half dog had its advantages in being able to see rather well in the dark.
"Yeah, sure," he continued to tease. "COULD have been cold . . . but WEREN'T." Joey tried poking him in the stomach the best she could, considering she couldn't really see at all in the darkness.
"Well, why else do you think I came in here?" she asked trying to sound as sweet and innocent as possible. She could practically feel Sirius grin through the dark. "Certainly not to be with you," she said trying desperately to sound completely serious.
"Awww . . . I feel so unloved," he whimpered in mock sadness.
"You should," she whispered back, scooting in closer to him so that she was talking about three inches away from his lips. She could smell his minty breath from the toothpaste and it was practically drawing her closer. Sirius just shook his head.
"Mhmm, sure," he mumbled sarcastically. "I know the real reason why you're in here." Joey cocked an eyebrow at him, unaware that he was able to see it perfectly well. This compelled him to smile and stifle a laugh. "I'm just too irresistible," he finally whispered, putting his hand lightly on her neck and leaning in to kiss her. Joey's eyes narrowed instinctively and she put a hand on his mouth, cogently avoiding his kiss.
"That's what you think," she laughed back a little louder than she meant to. Two could play at this game, and he certainly was not going to get away that easily. "Are you implying that I'm hopelessly addicted to you?"
Sirius felt thankful that Joey could not see him laughing silently in the darkness. Little did he remember that Joey still had a hand on his mouth and could feel him shaking slightly under her touch. Joey had to suppress a grin . . . this was going to be absolutely too easy.
"Well if that's how you feel . . ." she started, pulling the covers down while sitting up and slinging her feet over the side to slide out of the bed. "I guess since it's ME who's addicted to YOU . . . YOU won't miss it much if I just return back to MY bed."
Sirius' expression dropped instantly and he sat up a flash. But judging by the slowness with which Joey was getting off the bed, it became very clear to him that she was just messing with him. He smirked at her idea of teasing him . . . she really was quite good at flipping the switch from hot to cold in a matter of seconds.
In one swift movement, he slipped his arm around her waist and yanked her over him and onto the other side of the bed. With her back flat against the bed and her head resting on the soft pillow, he lifted himself over her and smirked down at her knowingly.
"I never said that I wasn't addicted to YOU." He whispered against her lips as he kissed her gently. Joey smiled widely and wrapped her arms around his neck making him lose his balance so she could pull him down on top of her. They laid like this for a little while, tongues roaming hungrily around the other's mouth. Soon, Sirius' lips began wandering down Joey's cheek and neck.
"You taste like minty toothpaste," she whispered to him, giggling slightly and trying to catch her breath. A rumble of laughter resonated from deep in Sirius' chest.
"You taste like . . .heaven," he mumbled against Joey's skin as his lips strayed along her collarbone before finally returning back to her seemingly idle lips.
When Joey finally had him in a vulnerable spot, she was able to push him back against the bed so she could climb on top of him. He did this easily and willingly, pressing his eyes closed and trying in vain to steady his breath as she fervently kissed his neck and jawline. Between Joey's passionate kisses along his neck, and Sirius' rapidly rising temperature, his shirt was seeming like a rather bothersome restraint. Needless to say, it was hastily (and appreciatively) discarded on the floor.
Her fingers slowly tracing the contours of his abdominal muscles, Sirius had to stifle an audible struggle for breath as her tongue drew slow, warm circles along his collar bone.
"And just so you know . . ." she breathed out against his skin as her lips made their way back up his neck. "You really ARE just too irresistible." Sirius didn't bother to hold back the tremble running down his spine from the hot breath that felt like it was scorching his skin every place it touched. He just smirked, nodded in response, and continued focusing on steadying his breathing.
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"Joey, wake up!" Sirius called from where Joey assumed was the bathroom door. She groaned unenthusiastically and yanked the bed covers over her head, mumbling incoherently about wanting five more minutes.
She heard Sirius take a step into the room again and felt something heavy land on her head. She grumbled childishly and picked her head up slightly, realizing he had thrown a big, dry towel at her head.
"Come on, Sweetie, get up and shower! I'm already done!" he said rather urgently. "Your dad just told me that he's making breakfast and wants us downstairs in no more than 15 minutes so we can eat quickly and get all of our luggage together."
Joey smiled sleepily at the idea of Sirius calling her 'sweetie.' This didn't mean, however, that she made any movement to get up. In fact, she didn't even bother opening her eyes. It was a long night and she still needed some more beauty sleep. She decided that if her father wanted her up he could march on up those stairs and personally haul her entire 140 pounds out of bed on his own.
Just as Joey was making her decision to stay in bed, immaturely cooking up a number of half-baked excuses to do so, Sirius poked his head back in the room once more. "Your mom is on her way down the hallway!" he exclaimed. When Joey heard this, memories of last night's rendezvous hastily popped into her head and reminded her that she was not only NOT in her own room, but was, consequently, lying guiltily under the covers of her boyfriend's bed.
Shooting out of bed fast enough to cause the room to spin around her, she winced slightly as her eyes refused to adjust to the daylight. Deciding that it was useless to bother trying to see, she just kept her eyes closed and tried to feel her way towards the bathroom door. She knew it was somewhere along the left side of the room . . . the set-up of Brian's bedroom was just the complete opposite of her room . . . how hard could it be to find her way?
Before she got far, she heard some loud laughter coming from behind her. It was, of course, unmistakably Sirius'.
"What?" she grumbled aloud, still clinging tightly to the towel in her arms, yet not bothering to open her eyes.
"What on earth are you doing?" He asked cheerfully.
"For your information," she practically snapped at him, "I'm trying to get my arse out of YOUR room and into the shower before my mom gets in here." Sirius just laughed louder, much to Joey's annoyance.
"Joey, look where you are," he said rather assertively. Joey squinted one of her eyes open and peaked around in the direction she was feeling around towards. When her eye focused and she realized the wall she was looking at, her other eye popped open and she peered around dazedly.
"How the hell did I get into MY room?" she roughly asked of the guy standing behind her. Joey's angry demeanor changed almost immediately when she noticed that Sirius was standing in the bathroom, combing his wet hair in nothing but a pair of blue jeans that were so dark they nearly looked black against his lightly tan skin.
Sirius couldn't help but smirk at Joey's seemingly vulgar language. It was no doubt a simple side-affect from lack of sleep. Joey always had a profane mouth in the morning . . . Sirius thought it was one of her more adorable attributes.
"I carried you in there this morning," he said with a laugh. "Your dad came knocking on my door and I had to hide you under the covers. Then he told me he still needed to wake you and your brothers up, so I took the opportunity to carry you into your room when he left to rouse Brian and Sam."
Joey was now standing behind Sirius as he continued to comb his knotted hair out into smooth, yet still remarkably shaggy, locks. She leaned her forehead up against his bare back while hooking a few fingers into the butt pockets of his jeans. Her eyes drooped lazily before closing in exhaustion. "Thank you for not waking me up," she mumbled, trying to fight back the drowsiness in a losing battle.
"Well, I did TRY to wake you up," he admitted with a hearty laugh. "Only, you were so sound asleep I practically thought I should check your pulse to make sure you were still alive." A smile cracked on Joey's face. "Then I had to make up some fib about your mom coming down the hallway about to see you in my bed. That certainly got you up in a flash." Joey's eyes narrowed and she glared at the boy smiling back at her through the bathroom mirror. "Well it was entertaining to watch you try to find a non-existent door on the opposite side of you room," he offered rather smarmily.
"Yeah, yeah," she said wryly, giving Sirius a contemptuous poke in the butt. "Now get out so I can shower and we can eat."
It was about 20 minutes later when they finally arrived in the kitchen downstairs. (Though Joey had claimed it was only 15 minutes since she was in denial that she was in the shower for longer than 10.) But aside from that, breakfast was still hot and ready, nonetheless, and still tasted just as delicious.
After all the morning greetings, Joey and Sirius joined the family squeezed around the kitchen table, and started filling their plates up with food. It was just as Joey was pouring some orange juice for Sirius and herself that her mother addressed one of her brothers at the table.
"I received a letter from the ministry this morning, Josh," Betty mentioned, sounding rather casual.
Josh did his best to swallow half of what was in his mouth, and just tried speaking around the rest. "What about, Mum?" he managed to choke out.
"Well, they were aware of our plans to vacation in the states this holiday, and had kindly informed your father and myself of a Christmas ball taking place in the home of one of our more influential associates from over there. They want us to go and make an appearance on part of Europe's Ministry of Magic."
"Why do we have any associates from the states?" Josh asked, sounding rather confused.
"Well, apparently they don't live continuously over there. They bought a house in the U.K. not long ago. In fact, they happen to live just outside of London for most of the year, and they've recently become one of the most significant correlates of the Ministry of Magic here in Europe and the one in America."
No one at the table was really listening to Mrs. Atramentous except for Josh. He seemed to be very interested in what she was talking about, but the rest of the family continued to eagerly take mouthfuls of the food on their plates. Joey was idly sipping at her orange juice as her mother and brother continued conversing. Needless to say, she did NOT expect the conversation to turn the way it did.
"So have we met this family before? Are they ever at the Ministry during the work week?" Josh asked skeptically.
Betty took a sip of her tea and nodded as she swallowed the warm contents of her cup. "Well, yes . . . the father is at least. The mother is a professor at the Salem Witch Academy in America, so she lives at the boarding school for most of the days out of the year. But I believe, if my memory serves me correctly, that they have a daughter who goes to school at Hogwarts. She transferred from Salem not too long ago."
The attention in the kitchen changed its way over to the only two Hogwarts students at the table. Joey and Sirius perked up in their seats, completely unaware of what the conversation was about or the direction it had turned. If they had only been paying attention, they would have realized where all the clues had pointed too.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Joey asked, trying to act like she had been listening the whole time.
"We were just wondering if you knew of any transfer students who are going to Hogwarts right now." Betty recapped. Sirius and Joey both shrugged, not being able to think of anyone at the moment.
"Do you know their last name, by chance?" Sirius inquired, now curious as to where this was leading. Joey continued to idly sip her orange juice as they waited for her mother to answer.
"I think it was something like . . . Stupet or Struppet . . . something along those lines, perhaps," Betty trailed off rather carelessly, trying her best to get her aging mind to remember. The silence at the table was broken as Joey had clearly inhaled a good portion of her juice and was now coughing it all over the breakfast table. Betty gave her daughter a worried look. "Are you alright, sweetheart?" Mr. Atramentous absentmindedly began patting his daughter on the back, eyes not parting from the newspaper he had splayed in front of him.
Finally managing to get a hold of her breathing again, Joey flashed Sirius a freaked-out look and turned back to her mother. "STRUMPET?" she practically spat out, trying to enunciate it as clearly as possible. She MUST not have heard her mother correctly before. Betty clasped her hands together as the memory dawned on her.
"That's the one!" she said ecstatically, glad that the name finally came to her whether someone had had to assist her or not.
"Omigod," Joey breathed out more to herself than aloud. She still managed to receive a load of confused glances from everyone at the table, save Sirius. He, too, was looking rather pale. Of all the chances in the world . . . who would have thought?
Rather abruptly, Joey stood up from the table, muttered a few excuses, and grabbed Sirius by the collar before herding him out of the kitchen behind her . . . This situation called for some dire plans to be made.
At the top of the stairs, she dropped his shirt and headed off into her room, mind buzzing, yet not filling Sirius in on anything.
"Joey . . .?" Sirius asked hesitantly, following her into her room. "Joey! Tell me what the heck is up!"
Joey was flipping open the suitcase that she had already started packing a few days earlier. Squishing down the already packed clothes as far as they would budge, she turned around and was at her closet door in a flash. Rummaging through its contents, she finally yanked out a familiar-looking ball gown and made her way back to the open suitcase.
Sirius grabbed her and spun her around mid-rampage, and look her straight in the eyes, appearing as though he were trying to decide whether she had truly gone crazy or not.
"Are you okay?!" he asked sounding genuinely worried. Joey seemed to have gotten shaken out of her weird reverie with this inquiry. She looked Sirius hard in the eye as she spoke.
"Sirius, we're going to that ball." The handsome young man in front of her stared back at her blankly for a few moments before what she had said finally registered.
"What- . . . why?" he managed to finally sputter out. Joey shook her head with a lack of anything to say. She didn't really have a reason, come to think of it.
"I just . . . I have to go," she finally said. "I need to see her family . . . her home, her parents. I'm just . . . curious, I suppose. Maybe I'll find some answers as to why she's so . . . so . . . evil."
Sirius considered his girlfriend for a moment. She certainly did have a point. But the concept that she had clearly used the word 'we' when expressing her need to attend that ball was certainly the real issue here. Not only was she NOT invited to this ball, but she was also dragging Sirius along as well, undoubtedly cooking up a plan that would get them both in a good amount of trouble in the end.
"And I'm assuming you want me to go with you . . ." he stated more that asked. Joey nodded and her brow knitted together in consternation. Sirius heaved a sigh and gave her half a smile. "Alright," he conceded. "But I need some dress robes, mind you . . . and some nicer shoes as well."
The grin that spread across Joey's face at that moment made the whole affair completely worth it to Sirius. She grabbed Sirius' hand, turned on her heels, and headed off towards Brian's room. Undoubtedly on her way to sneak some dress robes and shoes out of her brother's closet, Sirius thought to himself with a smirk.
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And then they'll finish packing and then they'll be in the states. *uncomfortable smile* I KnOw, I kNoW . . . I am certainly progressing through this story rather slowly . . . but you don't need to tell me this! I have enough voices in my head yelling at me about it already! ; }
But I hope you liked this chapter nonetheless! The next one will come out . . . well, frankly, I don't really know. Just think, though . . . I get out of school June 16th . . . so if anything happens before then, well that's just gravy. LOL! Meantime, I will continue to die in honors chem. *cheesy grin* Okay, I know that was random, but it's by far my worst subject, and I really am dying in there. But I'd rather not think about that right now. =/ Since, as of right now, it's 1:36 on April 13th, so it's already been my birthday for an hour and thirty six minutes. *even bigger grin*
And, of course, a specially gi-mungous thank you to:
Kiwi (give up? Ha never! LMAO! Had me cracking up, but it's the truth! Thanks for the review!),
singingvalentine (*cringe* . . . go ahead . . . throw something at me . . . that was a verrrrrry long wait, I know *sobs* But still . . . Thanks so much for the review!),
Jenstarz (thanks so much for the review! You rock!),
Snap (*wink wink* hope you're having fun in Disney Land on my BIRTHDAY),
Greenfairie (Good to hear from you again! Thanks so much for the review! Means a bundle!)
Casco (*wink wink* you better have gotten me something nice. LOL! JK.),
Sakura (thanks for letting me know you were still around! Puts a mind at ease, and it's great to hear from you! Yes, school IS a major bitch . . . I can't even BEGIN to say . . . but we just have to hang on a little bit longer. *author tries to suppress a groan* . . . only, what is it?, like two months of school left? I don't know how it is for you, but I'm sure we can all just hang in there a little longer! Thanks so much for your continuous support! Means the world!),
Queen Cari (I DID write some more! And some more . . . just took a little while! Lol!),
Angel 76 (I wrote more, DAMN IT! LMFAO. Thanks for the review. It was inspiring whether your muse left you or not. =),
Rrowan J. Weasley (all in one day? Yipes. Haha! And I made you wait this long time for the next one too . . .*hangs head in shame* But I hoped you liked it! ; ),
Abby (Wow! *blush* Thanks so much!),
Sirius' sweetie (lol, by the way . . . love the penname. Hehe! And thanks a bunch for the review!),
fallenistari (LOL! Yes I do have a 22 year old brother and a handful of older male cousins. That's six years older than me, and YES at times I don't get along with him . . . but for the most part he's an awesome influence in my life and I'm glad to have him around. Hehe! And, as a side note, when you get older and you both mature, you start getting along MUCH better than you did as youngsters . . . I think you just appreciate each other more. I dunno. But I actually modeled the character Brian after my older brother. *blush* Just don't tell him I said so. ; ),
Padfootess/ Emmah-Leah/ previous Marauder-luver-forever (hehe! So many names, can't keep up with you gurl! LOL! Thanks so much for the review! And, yes, I love Brian too! *see previous comment* And I hope you enjoyed Sirius at the mall. *sly grin* And Sirius on skis is STILL yet to come! Stick around!),
soccerchic1989 (thanks so much for reviewing! I'm always pleased to hear from everyone! So glad you like it! And I'm so sorry this one took a while to come out! =) ,
MarauderFan4ever (Yes, yes . . .but our Sirius in ski clothes has YET to make it to the big scene . . . that's what next chapter's for, for sure! Thanks so much for reviewing!),
frostedflake333 (*grin* Thanks so much for reviewing! I'm glad you're enjoying it!),
Bajan Girl (Yes! Someone else who was looking forward to the midnight excursions as much as I was! LMFAO! Glad I'm not the only one! *giggles compulsively* Thanks for reviewing!),
glitter kitty (Awesome! Thanks for the review! Hope you enjoyed their shopping adventures! Hehe! I know I enjoyed writing it!), and (insert clichéd 'last but not least' here):
Mz Marauder! (*giggles* Yesmmm . . . I think we ALL agree with Joey there! Hehe! Thanks so much for reading and reviewing! Means a ton!)
*ducks quickly, narrowly avoiding all the garbage being thrown at her* I know! I know! And I'm so sorry!!! It's been like . . . over four months? =/
Man . . . I am thoroughly disgusted with the fact that the last time I've updated was Thanksgiving break . . . *eyes bulge out* Damn . . . I have been sooooo busy I can't even BEGIN to tell you how crazy my schedule has been. Now that it is SPRING break, I finally strapped myself down in front of the computer and decided to make a little birthday present for myself (my big day is the 13th and I'll be 16 years old). LOL!
And all I can say now is . . . *phew!* . . . got another one out and lord knows that summer is coming up and once again, I'll be able to pump out the chapters like no tomorrow and finally finish this hefty piece of work! Hehe! And it felt sooooooo righteous to be writing again! I can't tell you how nice it was to sit down at the computer and get reacquainted with the characters again. I gave Joey and Sirius each a huge hug and kiss and apologized for temporarily putting them on hold as school and sports decided to consume my ENTIRE life.
And Most IMPORTANTLY: Thank you SO MUCH to every one of you who has stuck by and read and reviewed LoY for every 26 chapters that I have posted so far! And now that I'm on #27, I hope this chapter is still up to par and you enjoy it! R&R and I will love you forever! Thanks a bundle!
-Sara
You're the twinkle in my eye, the wind behind my sail, the laughter in my life, the apple of my eye. -Unknown
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"Sirius, I swear if you don't roll that window up I'm going to make you sit in the back!" Joey said with a laugh as she shook her head at her impossible boyfriend. Sirius had the passenger window of Joey's convertible rolled down all the way and he was leaning so far forward that his head was practically sticking out of it. "You know, there really wasn't any point in putting the top up on the convertible if you were just going to make us freeze to death that way!"
Sirius pulled away from the window and flashed Joey a cheesy smile. His hair was terribly windblown and the moisture in the frosty air had caused it to form a giant cowlick in the middle. Joey had to choke back a laugh as she was trying to show him she was serious about rolling the window up.
"Sorry, Joey. It's just that I never get to sit up front, you know? . . . and especially not in a car like this," he added as an after thought while he rolled up the window. Joey knew that all of Sirius' car experiences involved him sitting in the back of a fancy vehicle with a chauffeur driving him wherever he needed to go.
"Well, do you have to stick your head out the window like that? You remind me of a dog." Sirius let out an ironic bark of laughter as Joey flashed him a cheeky smile.
"Perhaps like a big black dog with a shaggy coat?" he said teasingly. "Can't imagine what would give you that crazy idea!" Joey giggled.
"No, actually I was thinking more like one of those blood hounds with the long ears and saggy faces," she said, failing miserably to hold the serious expression on her face. "You know the ones I'm talking about. . . they stick their head out the car window and their lips flap in the wind, drool flying all over the place?"
Sirius made a face at her and acted like he was pouting. "Well I'm sorry I seem so repulsive to you."
"Yup," Joey flashed a brassy grin at the animagus next to her as he smugly stuck his tongue out right back at her.
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"For crying out loud, Sirius! Just try it on real fast!" Joey said impatiently. "This is like the tenth jacket that you've refused to even touch!"
"Not true!" he said petulantly, refusing to take the black bulbousy thing that Joey held out to him. "I tried on that other blue one and it didn't fit me right!"
"That's because it was about three sizes too small on you. And, besides that, I never even asked you to try that one on . . . it wasn't even a ski jacket!"
"But the point is, that I tried it on," he said defiantly. Joey rolled her eyes at him.
"I swear you're harder to shop for than Brian is!" Joey vented. Sirius gave her a sheepish smirk. She heaved a sigh and held the jacket out to him one more time, a pleading look across her delicate features. He looked down at the jacket distastefully and reluctantly took it out of her outstretched hand. Rather somberly, and careful to not mess up the clothes he already had on, Sirius slipped the coat over his well built shoulders and dropped his arms to his sides, waiting for Joey's inspection.
"There, see?" she said matter-of-factly as she pulled him in front of a mirror that was stationed in the middle of the coat store. "Look how handsome you look. The black contrasts really well with your eyes and the lining in this jacket will keep you warm while the water-proof shell will keep you dry." Sirius continued to giver her a resentful look. "What's wrong now?" she asked.
"It's puffy!" he whined. "I look like a burnt marshmallow!" Joey's annoyed expression deadpanned for a moment just before she burst out laughing. Sirius continued to stand there patiently, his eyebrows high up on his forehead, as Joey continued to express her amusement.
It took Joey a moment to try and sober herself before she caught a hold of her breath and tried to speak. But when she looked into Sirius' face which still had a pathetically tortured expression on it, she was consumed with an entirely fresh batch of giggles.
"Alright, already! Take it off!" she choked out exasperatedly. Sirius hastily pulled the jacket off and chucked it back onto the rack. He gave Joey a satisfied beam and allowed her to take his hand and lead him off towards a different store. "If you refuse to try out any jackets, then we'll go look at some ski pants."
Sirius suppressed a groan as they wandered into yet another store. It wasn't long before Joey was holding pants up to him to get an idea of his size.
"Well, at least you're an easy fit," she said thankfully. "Just like Brian, tall and skinny. It'll be no problem finding the right size."
"You mean no one is going to measure me?" Sirius asked incredulously. Joey smirked.
"No, this isn't like Madam Malkin's, where you have a tailor measure up your inseam and practically dress you, as well. Here, you have to pick out clothes and use a changing room to try 'em on."
Sirius gave her one of those 'what the heck are you talking about' looks. Joey laughed at his expression, grabbed another pair of pants that might fit and led him by his hand towards the dressing rooms.
Joey let out an annoyed sigh when there was no one in the dressing rooms to give them a stall. The only other person that she could see in the changing room was a fairly elderly woman who seemed to be waiting for her granddaughter in the partition she was standing next to. The woman was paying absolutely no attention to them and Joey found this rather comforting. However, she did lead Sirius down to the opposite side of the dressing room, clearly out of earshot. She didn't need the lady over- hearing her explaining to her boyfriend how to use a dressing room.
When Joey found the best looking compartment she could, she simply stuffed the pairs of pants into Sirius' hands and pointed into the little room. "I want to see them on you before you say 'no'," she said with a serious, yet amused tone.
Sirius took one look into the cubicle and gave a disgusted look. There were clothes strewn all across the floor and still hanging up on the hooks of the wall from the stall's previous occupants. The mirror on one side of the compartment was pretty scratched up, and the little box-like seat in the corner didn't look like it could support a pair of pants, let alone a person.
"You have GOT to be kidding me," he said rather snottily. Joey heaved a sigh, and, suppressing her giggles yet again, entered the cubicle. She made a quick sweep of the area by taking all of the extra clothing and chucking it outside the door and to the side of the dressing room.
"Okay, now go try that stuff on," she said rather hopefully. It sounded more like a command than a request.
"You really want me to get undressed in this thing?" he asked hesitantly, making sure that Joey could sense the apprehension in his tone.
"Sirius! That's it!" Joey said obdurately, grabbing him by the belt and yanking him with her into the dressing room, barely stopping to slam the door shut behind her.
Sirius barely had time to let out a squeak before Joey shoved him back in the unstable-looking seat and began yanking his shoes off. "If you're going to be such a baby about trying these clothes on, them I'm just going to have to act like your mother and dress you for you."
Sirius was too shocked to even express his amusement as Joey pulled him back to his feet and began undoing his belt. "Joey, are you seriou-" his inquiry was stopped short as Joey began undoing the buttons of his pants. He began laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation. He was, of course, enjoying this immensely.
"But you're not going to- OKAY, you ARE," he interrupted his own train of thoughts. Sirius let out a pathetic laugh as Joey pulled his pants down to his ankles in a flash, leaving him standing there in his boxers. He stepped out of his pants and Joey chucked him the first new pair of ski pants for him to try on.
"You mean you're not going to put them on for me?" he asked with a tone that sounded like genuine disappointment. Joey didn't bother suppressing a smile as she stuck her tongue out at him.
"You're enjoying this way too much," she said with a laugh.
"Yeah. Well, you know, shopping suddenly seems like so much more fun when you have a pretty girl undressing you," he said thoughtfully.
"I bet," she mumbled as Sirius began, disappointedly, to pull the water- proof pants up his athletic legs on his own. When he pulled the pants up as far as he wanted and began zipping them up, Joey soon realized she was going to have to intervene once again. "Sirius, there's no way you're going to be able to ski with your pants sagging that much."
Sirius looked up at her from his efforts of zipping his pants and frowned. "There's no way I'm going to hike my pants up my butt," he said with a tone serious enough to crack a smile on his girl friend's face. Joey took a step forward and pried his hands away from the clasp on the pants that he was still having trouble closing.
"I never said up your butt," she replied, trying to imitate the ridiculously serious tone of his voice. She gripped the sides of the waistband of his pants and pulled them up another inch or two before she began fixing the clasp for him.
Sirius was trying desperately to keep the frown on his face from the fact that Joey had pulled his pants up, but the idea that she was now, once again, fiddling with the clasp of his pants, was making the situation rather giggle-inducing.
"I think this zipper and clasp is broken. . . It doesn't seem to want to move any more," she said matter-of-factly. ". . . I guess you should just try on the next pair."
"Well, that could work, except for the fact that I won't be able to get them off now because the zipper is stuck," Sirius said rather dryly. Truth be told, however, he really didn't mind having Joey sitting there trying to get it to work. Joey gave him a suspicious glare and went to toil to try and get the fastener to budge again.
"What is with this zipper. . ." she grumbled to herself. Sparing Sirius half an apologetic glance, she had to make a double-take when she noticed the expression on his face.
Sirius was now pressing his lips together so tightly to keep from laughing that they formed a thin line across his face. His eyes, however, were revealing the hilarity in his expression. Joey cocked an eyebrow at him and just shook her head.
"You better wipe that smirk off you face," she said with a lightheartedly threatening tone. She was now having trouble keeping herself from laughing. The smile broke out on her boyfriend's face and she had to poke him in the stomach.
"What?!" he asked, trying to a great extent to sound innocent. "YOU'RE the one who is playing with MY zipper. . . I'm completely guiltless here!"
"Guiltless?" Joey let out a snort of sardonic laughter. "Who, my dear, are you trying to fool?" Sirius just stood there with a charming smile on his face, lighting up his eyes. Leaning in and standing up a bit on her tip toes, Joey planted a soft kiss on his bottom lip. When she began to lean back to pull out of the kiss, she soon realized that Sirius had already snaked his arms around her waist and was holding her to him.
"Where do you think you're going, *my dear*?" he asked, being sure to emphasize on the repetition of Joey's very own words. Smiling brightly, Joey leaned in for another kiss, a deep growl of laughter resonating from her boyfriend's chest.
"We're supposed to be trying to get you out of those pants," she whispered against his soft lips. Sirius' laughter grew louder and, quickly realizing what he was thinking, Joey just grinned and slowly shook her head at his suggestiveness. As he continued to plant several tender kisses on her mouth, Joey finally gave in and allowed him to deepen the kiss.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It was about half an hour later and Joey had finally convinced Sirius into getting one nice pair of black, slippery ski pants that seemed to fit him just right. He seemed to be in a much lighter mood now that they were finally making some progress in finding him some ski wear, not to mention the new use he found for the dressing rooms.
Every time they made their way into a new store, Joey found herself having to be pulled along into every changing room to 'help dress' her boyfriend. She really didn't mind this at all, however, since it was actually getting Sirius to be a willing shopper, and she certainly got a nice view of his fit body. The scattered giggles and sweet kisses weren't bad either. She just had to draw the line at the point when he suggested that they start 'shopping for her.'
Before they new it, it was a few hours later and they were practically done shopping for the day. They had even done some Christmas shopping for Joey's family, and Joey had managed to teach Sirius about muggle money, exchanging a good amount of his wizarding money with some of her own muggle money so that he, too, could buy her family some gifts. Deciding that they were now significantly hungry enough to take a lunch break, they began making their way over to the food court.
"Joey, when am I going to get a chance to shop for you for Christmas?" Sirius asked curiously, giving her hand that he was holding a little squeeze. Joey smirked at his inquiry.
"I still have to shop for you, too," she admitted with a laugh. "But I don't think it's such a good idea to split up in here and let you wander about on your own." Sirius grinned at the mental image.
"Yeah, you're right. I'd probably end up getting lost in some baby clothing store." Joey chuckled softly. "And besides," he continued, "I think I'd rather get you something that's . . . non-muggle," he finished awkwardly.
"I was thinking the same thing," she laughed. "Maybe we can make a trip to Diagon Alley tomorrow?" Sirius shrugged, pressing his lips together in contemplation.
"I don't know if there is much to look for in Diagon Alley," he said thoughtfully.
"Well, actually, there is a very nice wizarding mall in America. I'm fairly confident we could split up there, and, without getting too lost, be able to do some Christmas shopping successfully."
Sirius grinned at her, "That sounds great!" he replied. He already had half a mind what he wanted to get her, but she didn't need to know that.
Joey grinned back at him. Little did he know that she knew exactly what kind of gift she wanted to get him. She just hoped that he would like it.
They got in line to buy some sandwiches and the conversation moved off onto a lighter subject of what else they needed to buy to complete their day of shopping.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
When they returned back to the Atramentous household late that afternoon, they had found only Sam and Brian home, the rest of the house vacant. Mr. and Mrs. Atramentous had gone out to do some more Christmas shopping in Diagon Alley, and Josh and Erin had gone out to spend a little time with each other alone.
When Sirius and Joey found them, both boys were off doing their own thing in their own rooms. This didn't surprise Joey, since Sam and Brian were the two people in the Atramentous family that didn't seem to get along completely well. It wasn't that they loved each other any less than any of their other family members; it was simply the matter that they were complete opposites in almost every way, making them prone to arguing and bickering.
As younger boys, Sam and Brian found themselves arguing constantly, never really letting the other alone. But as they grew older and more mature, the bickering began to die away to a rare occasion, and they resorted more to just conversing little and avoiding the other skillfully. As long as there was civility in the Atramentous home, Betty and Paul weren't particularly anal about having their boys be best buddies with each other . . . especially not between Sam and Brian.
Brian, being the more serious, more loving, and quieter, brunette son of the Atramentous family, contrasted drastically with Sam who was blonde, constantly cheerful with everyone, and in possession of a dry, sarcastic humor. Sam's idea of fun was goofing around and acting crazy with a bunch of friends, and this did not suite well at all with Brian's constant need to be in control of the situation and understand everything that was going on and would be in the near future. This probably explained why Sam was working to be a medi-wizard and Brian was working with the order. It was the difference between Sam's love of working with people and Brian's love of being well informed on certain ways that he could help his people by fighting crime.
Despite these differences, Joey loved both of them very much. She did, however find a much closer connection to Brian, for what reasons she wasn't completely sure. (Perhaps it was a brunette thing.)
And minding that issue, Joey and Sirius didn't bother to think much of their detachment, and went about lounging in the family room. Sirius was quite mesmerized by muggle electronics, and he was keeping himself quite entertained by pressing as many buttons as he possibly could on the remote control, watching in amazement as the television screen changed channel after channel. After laughing for a good ten minutes about Sirius' new obsession, Joey eventually got bored and flipped open a book, while comfortably draping her feet over Sirius' lap.
They were sitting like this for a good half hour before her parents returned home from their shopping spree.
"Kids!" Mrs. Atramentous called as she entered the house through the door that led into the garage. Flam came flying from off her shoulder to join the couple in the family room. "Kids, we're back! How was your day?" There was a huge booming sound coming from the upstairs, and it was obvious that both boys from the second floor had immerged from their rooms, and were now bounding hazardously down the stairs.
Suddenly, Mrs. Atramentous stopped dead in her tracks and began fiddling with all the packages in her arms, trying her best to hide what she had bought.
"Hey, Mum!" Both boys chimed in unison looking rather interested in what she was carrying. "Here, let us help you with those . . ." It suddenly became very clear to Betty, Sirius, and Joey as to why both boys were so excited to see that their parents had returned home.
"Oh, no you don't . . ." Mrs. Atramentous said sounding a bit accusatory. "It seriously disturbs me to think that even at 19 and 21, two of my sons have a horrible habit of snooping for Christmas presents." Both boys grinned at her rather guiltily and Sirius and Joey began laughing to themselves.
"Why don't you two go and help you father carry in a few of Josh and Joey's gifts?" Betty finally suggested. "You can at least make yourselves useful now that you are downstairs."
Both boys suppressed a groan and then proceeded out into the garage where they knew their father was unloading more packages from the car. When the door swung shut, Mrs. Atramentous started up the stairs mumbling to herself about how sad it was that it took four tries before she finally had a daughter. Sirius and Joey exchanged looks and laughed some more before they returned to what they were doing, Joey now idly stroking her soft owl.
When Mr. Atramentous entered the family room a little while later, he was grinning broadly down at the couple sharing the couch together.
"You guys will never guess who we ran into at Diagon Alley today," he began. He waited until he had both of their attentions before continuing. "Do you guys remember Mrs. Capman, the little old lady from down the street? When you two were younger, apparently you used to wander over there during the summers and harass her for cookies and other goodies . . ."
Joey and Sirius smiled at the memory. "I would hardly call it harassment, father," Joey said matter-of-factly. "We would simply wander over there to greet her good morning, and if she just so happened to have had a few cookies on hand . . . well, she would just kindly offer them . . ." Sirius nodded in agreement, trying to keep the smile on his face as innocent as possible.
"Mhmm . . ." Paul answered with his uncertain concurrence. "Yes, well, whatever the case may be, she seemed to have absolutely fallen in love with Sirius, judging by the way she rambled on about him. You never would have thought that you guys had practically made it a daily venture to wipe out her pantry each afternoon."
"Well . . . you have to keep in mind that it wasn't just HER pantry, dad," Joey rationalized. "We did make the rounds about the neighborhood . . ." Paul and Sirius both let out a snort of sardonic laughter in unison.
"Had to make it fair, you know," Sirius goaded on in mock seriousness, making the effort to tease his girlfriend. Joey scrunched up her nose at him and playfully poked him in the side with one of her feet that had been sitting on his lap.
"Well, whatever the case may have been . . . Mrs. Capman seemed beyond ecstatic with the idea that you, Sirius, would be staying here with us for a few days. She even had half the mind to invite herself to dinner tonight." Sirius and Joey exchanged nearly horrified looks. Mrs. Capman's visit held the promise of big wet kisses that left the classic, 'bright right lipstick smudge' on a cheek in its wake.
Sirius looked back at Mr. Atramentous and gave him a forced, yet obviously uncertain smile. "It'll be . . . good to see Mrs. Capman again," he said sounding almost in pain. Joey failed miserably to try and stifle her giggles. Paul gave her an obligatory disapproving glance before looking back at Sirius.
"That's the spirit, my boy," he encouraged along with a hearty pat on the shoulder. "We'll all suffer together . . . just don't tell Betty I said that . . ." the trio broke up into laughter as Paul got up and left the room. Little did they realize at the time, however, that the evening's affair would turn out much bigger than they had planned.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It was around five thirty when the doorbell rang and Sirius, Joey, and her parents were all sitting in the kitchen at the time. Joey had left Flam in her room with his dinner, thinking it best that he not get in the middle of an old lady's need to pinch cheeks and offer big, red smooches.
"That must be Mrs. Capman," Betty said confidently to the couple sitting at the table. "Would you get the door for us, dears?" Joey and Sirius exchanged a look but got up to answer the door, nonetheless.
However, when they opened the door, instead of seeing Mrs. Capman standing there, it seemed like everyone in the neighborhood except Mrs. Capman was at the Atramentous' doorstep . . . (all the little old ladies in their neighborhood, at least.)
"What the-?" shot out of Joey's mouth before she could stop herself. "Ummm . . . dad?" Joey called to her father from the foyer. Mr. Atramentous was standing beside his daughter in a flash, and the look on his face was quite inexplicably surprised.
"Mrs. Johnson, Ms. Turnpike, Ms. Lintork, Mrs. Wilpser. . ." He stuttered. There had to have been at least 7. . . no, 8, old ladies on their doorstep . . . none of which was Mrs. Capman, mind you. "What are you all doing here?" he tried to ask as politely as possible.
"Well," Ms. Turnpike began, the Jell-O salad resting in her arms jiggling slightly, "when Gladys Capman came home from Diagon Alley this afternoon bragging about how she was going over to the Atramentous' this evening to have supper with the family and SIRIUS BLACK . . . we all just decided that we wanted to come and say 'hi,' as well!" All the old ladies around her nodded in agreement. The next one to speak was Mrs. Wilpser, and as she did, she was trying to peak around Joey and her father to get a better view of Sirius who was now practically hiding in the background behind the two.
"We all remember Sirius and what a cute and polite little gentleman he was . . ." the white-haired woman said, a slight blush easily detected on her heavily made-up face. "When we heard he was in town . . . we ALL just had to see what a handsome young man he had grown into."
At this point, Joey was about to burst into fits of giggles. This was beyond obvious in her expression as her lips were squeezed together so tightly and her cheeks were practically bunched up into her eyes. In a desperate attempt to make the situation even more amusing, she backed-up to open the door wider, and, in effect, allowed Sirius to be standing in full view of the group of ladies.
"Well, do please come in," was all Paul managed to get out before he was practically shoved out of the way by the heard of ladies. His pleas for them to calm down and not shove were completely lost in the commotion of cheek pinches, forceful hugs, and big, wet, and colorful kisses on the poor teenage boy who was lost somewhere in the mass of ladies.
By the time the greeting was over, Sirius was exhausted, out of breath, and in possession of a forehead and two cheeks that had a greater array of colors on them than a box of fruit-loops. All of the ladies had finally pushed their way into the kitchen, along with all of their pots of Jell-O salad and baked goods. Mrs. Atramentous had welcomed them all graciously, yet in surprise.
Shock and surprise certainly seemed to be the common emotion in the air at the Atramentous home. Joey, however, from the moment she clicked the door shut, could not, for whatever power she contained inside of her, stop laughing. Even when she thought she had gotten a hold of herself, when she took one look at the state of Sirius' face and hair, she just about died again.
Not only was his face an assortment of all kinds of reds, pinks, and purples, but his hair, too, was so messed- up and sticking straight up that it was obvious that each woman had to have run her hands through those silky chocolate locks that Joey loved so much, as well.
"You look so . . . so . . ." she managed to gasp out as her legs practically crumbled below her, weak from laughing so hard. Sirius took a few steps closer to her and helped her continue standing, his expression completely patient, but clearly not finding the situation humorous.
"So . . .?" Sirius tried coaxing her to finish the statement. Joey finally managed to sober herself again and tried patting his hair down in the back where the ladies had messed it up the most.
"So . . ." Joey was at a loss for words. The situation was utterly ridiculous. But before she could answer anyways, the doorbell rang again. Sirius' face was horror-struck as another load of old women appeared at the door step, smiling and waving at him before they all began filing into the foyer, past Joey, and towards the charming gentleman that looked as if he were their prey. He managed to give Joey a pathetically fleeting glance before the swarm of women passed over him.
"My mother's in the kitchen!" Joey called over the loud gasping and 'goochie-goo'-ing, in an effort to coax the ladies out of the way. Lucky for them it worked, and they were once again left breathless and alone in the foyer.
"Man! That last batch was worst than the first!" he griped pitifully. "I think I felt a couple of them grab my bum!" Joey burst out laughing and gave Sirius a loving hug.
"But you really do look so adorable when your cheek is pinched," she offered.
"Oh yeah?" he asked, "But you are going to have to specify which cheek are you referring to . . . because all four were certainly getting some pinching action." Joey broke down into giggles again.
"I'm jealous!" she giggled. "Those are my cheeks! It's so sad that some old lady is getting more action than I am!"
"Well I don't feel bad for you!" he said, now laughing rather blithely. "It wasn't YOUR bum getting pinched! Imagine how I feel!"
"Well, I guess I'll just have to make it up to you later, then," she whispered in his ear. Sirius had to suppress the shiver that ran up his spine as Joey planted a soft kiss on his neck. She ran one of her hands up the back of his neck and into his disheveled hair, pulling his head down to meet her lips.
The two remained kissing quietly in the vestibule when a familiar sound was heard distantly booming down the stairs. "Hey guys; What was all that noise that I heard befo-"
The shriek that ensued from behind them was enough to break them apart, though.
Brian's face was petrified as he gaped at the couple standing in front of him. "WHAT are you two DOING in here?!" he finally managed to sputter out in disgust.
"Not exactly the brightest crayon in the box . . ." Joey growled out at the interruption that was her brother. Sirius lightly elbowed her in the ribs to be nice. "I'd say it was pretty obvious," she finally ended with.
Brian was standing there looking shocked at his baby sister. Joey held back a smile as the idea of a 'loss of innocence' could easily describe this situation for her brother . . . a loss of her brother's innocence in realizing that she wasn't just his 'baby' sister anymore.
"It was a fairly harmless kiss," Sirius tried to smooth over the situation. Brian's shocked gape at his sister suddenly changed direction and was now pointed at Sirius. To put it nicely, he looked a little short of civil.
"I don't really care WHAT you guys do behind closed doors . . ." he started out, "but unless you are behind them . . . I really don't want to see or hear any of it. The tongues, the busy hands . . . the whole deal . . . it's just too . . . nauseating." Sirius choked on the spit in his mouth as he tried to swallow. Brian was making a right scene of things and it was cracking him up.
Now that the couple was looking rather embarrassed, they could do nothing but nod along in agreement. Brian let out a satisfied 'harrumph' and stalked off into the kitchen. Joey looked over at Sirius and gave him an apologetic smirk.
"Being the only girl in the family, let alone the 'baby sister,' has its disadvantages," she reasoned. Sirius smiled down at her and nodded knowingly.
"So I've gathered," he replied as the two of them headed into the kitchen, as well.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Aside from the surprise visits and old-lady rampages, the night turned out to be a wonderful affair. The enormous dinner was a delicious feast, and there were more than a couple meals-worth of left-overs in the fridge. The entire neighborhood was back in their own homes by nine o'clock, and nine thirty found the Atramentous family, Erin and Sirius all squeezed into the comfortable family room, sipping coffee and tea as they were.
"So I think we'll have to think twice before inviting Sirius to stay with us again," Mr. Atramentous teased. "Not if it means having to host a senior citizen banquet every time we do." The living room was alive with laughter.
"I think what you MEAN is that you'll think twice before informing random old ladies on the street about who our house guests are," remarked Josh. The laughing grew louder and the agreeing nods were seen around the room. They eventually grew quiet and sat in silence for a few minutes, taking the opportunity to sit carefully out of their hot mugs.
"You do have to admit, though . . ." Brian thought aloud. "Ms. Turnpike makes one hell-of-a good Jell-O salad." Joey chucked a cushion at her smart-ass brother and the laughing filled the room once again.
Around a quarter to midnight, the whole lot that was lounging in the family room was yawning and looking rather sleepy. Betty suggested that Sirius go up and get ready for bed and that Joey would supply him linens and kindly his dress the bed for him in Brian's room. Joey nodded in consent, knowing full well that there was no way she would be making that bed for Sirius all by herself, whether he was her guest or not.
By the time they were ready for bed and Flam was let outside for a night of hunting, they headed down the hall to grab some linen to dress his bed. Sirius was clad out in another pair of his cutsie boxers (these ones had doggie chew-bones all over them) and some old Gryffindor t-shirt that he had owned since 5th year, while Joey was wearing her favorite yellow PJ pants and a loose, v-necked grey shirt. Joey was a little disappointed in Sirius' decision to wear a shirt, but she didn't say anything since the idea of being half naked in an unfamiliar house, let alone an unfamiliar bed, would probably have been a been a bit uncomfortable for him.
When they had finished tucking in the blankets and sheets, Joey folded them back nicely before standing up straight and smiling over at Sirius who was standing on the end of the bed looking at her rather interestedly.
She was about ready to hop into the bed on her side when some one knocked on the door and entered before either could answer. Actually, that 'someone' turned out to be more like a group of a few people; Betty, Paul, and Brian consisting.
"Just wanted to say goodnight and make sure everything was set," Betty said rather motherly.
"Oh, yes, of course. Everything is just perfect, thank you," Sirius said politely.
"Well, the house gets bitterly cold at night, so I brought you some extra blankets," she continued, smiling warmly as Sirius took the quilts and thanked her kindly. Silence ensued. Gathered around Sirius' room in their sleepwear, the small assembly of people was looking rather uncomfortable with not having anything else to say.
"We just finished making the bed," Joey said rather needlessly. The three people standing in the doorway each gave her a look in unison that clearly stated 'thank you Captain Obvious.' Joey gave a curt nod and stood there rather awkwardly. She couldn't help notice the suspicious glare that Brian seemed to be flashing between her and her boyfriend.
"Well good night, then!" Joey chimed in with a lack of anything else to say. She kissed her mother, father, and brother on the cheeks and then looked uneasily over at Sirius. Taking a few steps closer she gave him a rather discomfited and boxy hug, feeling the weight of her family's eyes on her back. She flashed them another forced smile and exited the room through the bathroom door that eventually led into her room.
With Joey gone, Paul, Betty and Brian all bid Sirius good night and headed off towards their own rooms. Sirius couldn't help but laugh to himself at the thought that they intentionally said an extra goodnight to them just to see what the two of them were up to.
He eventually turned off the lights and slid into bed. Staring up at the ceiling through the darkness, the memories of Brian's outrage at finding him and Joey kissing brought a smile to his face. It was kind of funny to think about it. Poor Joey and him would probably never get a moment alone with her having such a big family around 24/7. Sirius continued to stare up at the ceiling in Brian's room, willing sleep to come.
Just as his eyes began to drift closed, he heard foot steps somewhere close by, outside his room. Though faint, Sirius' canine abilities perked up instantly and he found himself lying completely still, ears straining to hear better. That's when a door could be heard beginning to creak open. His eyes darted over towards the door that led out to the hallway, but he soon realized that that door was still.
He laid there quietly for another moment before he heard a door creaking open once again. This time his eyes darted over towards the door leading into the bathroom and he could see a slim, shadowy figure slink over towards him in the darkness. A smile crept over his face and Joey could practically hear it in his tone as he spoke.
"Now what do you think YOU'RE doing at this late hour in MY bedroom?" he asked with an obviously bantering tone.
"Ummm . . ." Joey's sweet whisper rung out in the darkness, "I was . . . cold?" Sirius snorted with laughter.
"No you weren't," he laughed as he held open the covers and she slid in next to him. When he put the covers down around her, she had buried her face underneath the comforter and out of view.
"I could have been cold," she mumbled from somewhere under the blankets. Laughing, Sirius pulled the blankets up over his head as well so he and Joey were face to face in the pitch black. He could still see her alright as long as he held the covers up slightly. Being practically half dog had its advantages in being able to see rather well in the dark.
"Yeah, sure," he continued to tease. "COULD have been cold . . . but WEREN'T." Joey tried poking him in the stomach the best she could, considering she couldn't really see at all in the darkness.
"Well, why else do you think I came in here?" she asked trying to sound as sweet and innocent as possible. She could practically feel Sirius grin through the dark. "Certainly not to be with you," she said trying desperately to sound completely serious.
"Awww . . . I feel so unloved," he whimpered in mock sadness.
"You should," she whispered back, scooting in closer to him so that she was talking about three inches away from his lips. She could smell his minty breath from the toothpaste and it was practically drawing her closer. Sirius just shook his head.
"Mhmm, sure," he mumbled sarcastically. "I know the real reason why you're in here." Joey cocked an eyebrow at him, unaware that he was able to see it perfectly well. This compelled him to smile and stifle a laugh. "I'm just too irresistible," he finally whispered, putting his hand lightly on her neck and leaning in to kiss her. Joey's eyes narrowed instinctively and she put a hand on his mouth, cogently avoiding his kiss.
"That's what you think," she laughed back a little louder than she meant to. Two could play at this game, and he certainly was not going to get away that easily. "Are you implying that I'm hopelessly addicted to you?"
Sirius felt thankful that Joey could not see him laughing silently in the darkness. Little did he remember that Joey still had a hand on his mouth and could feel him shaking slightly under her touch. Joey had to suppress a grin . . . this was going to be absolutely too easy.
"Well if that's how you feel . . ." she started, pulling the covers down while sitting up and slinging her feet over the side to slide out of the bed. "I guess since it's ME who's addicted to YOU . . . YOU won't miss it much if I just return back to MY bed."
Sirius' expression dropped instantly and he sat up a flash. But judging by the slowness with which Joey was getting off the bed, it became very clear to him that she was just messing with him. He smirked at her idea of teasing him . . . she really was quite good at flipping the switch from hot to cold in a matter of seconds.
In one swift movement, he slipped his arm around her waist and yanked her over him and onto the other side of the bed. With her back flat against the bed and her head resting on the soft pillow, he lifted himself over her and smirked down at her knowingly.
"I never said that I wasn't addicted to YOU." He whispered against her lips as he kissed her gently. Joey smiled widely and wrapped her arms around his neck making him lose his balance so she could pull him down on top of her. They laid like this for a little while, tongues roaming hungrily around the other's mouth. Soon, Sirius' lips began wandering down Joey's cheek and neck.
"You taste like minty toothpaste," she whispered to him, giggling slightly and trying to catch her breath. A rumble of laughter resonated from deep in Sirius' chest.
"You taste like . . .heaven," he mumbled against Joey's skin as his lips strayed along her collarbone before finally returning back to her seemingly idle lips.
When Joey finally had him in a vulnerable spot, she was able to push him back against the bed so she could climb on top of him. He did this easily and willingly, pressing his eyes closed and trying in vain to steady his breath as she fervently kissed his neck and jawline. Between Joey's passionate kisses along his neck, and Sirius' rapidly rising temperature, his shirt was seeming like a rather bothersome restraint. Needless to say, it was hastily (and appreciatively) discarded on the floor.
Her fingers slowly tracing the contours of his abdominal muscles, Sirius had to stifle an audible struggle for breath as her tongue drew slow, warm circles along his collar bone.
"And just so you know . . ." she breathed out against his skin as her lips made their way back up his neck. "You really ARE just too irresistible." Sirius didn't bother to hold back the tremble running down his spine from the hot breath that felt like it was scorching his skin every place it touched. He just smirked, nodded in response, and continued focusing on steadying his breathing.
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"Joey, wake up!" Sirius called from where Joey assumed was the bathroom door. She groaned unenthusiastically and yanked the bed covers over her head, mumbling incoherently about wanting five more minutes.
She heard Sirius take a step into the room again and felt something heavy land on her head. She grumbled childishly and picked her head up slightly, realizing he had thrown a big, dry towel at her head.
"Come on, Sweetie, get up and shower! I'm already done!" he said rather urgently. "Your dad just told me that he's making breakfast and wants us downstairs in no more than 15 minutes so we can eat quickly and get all of our luggage together."
Joey smiled sleepily at the idea of Sirius calling her 'sweetie.' This didn't mean, however, that she made any movement to get up. In fact, she didn't even bother opening her eyes. It was a long night and she still needed some more beauty sleep. She decided that if her father wanted her up he could march on up those stairs and personally haul her entire 140 pounds out of bed on his own.
Just as Joey was making her decision to stay in bed, immaturely cooking up a number of half-baked excuses to do so, Sirius poked his head back in the room once more. "Your mom is on her way down the hallway!" he exclaimed. When Joey heard this, memories of last night's rendezvous hastily popped into her head and reminded her that she was not only NOT in her own room, but was, consequently, lying guiltily under the covers of her boyfriend's bed.
Shooting out of bed fast enough to cause the room to spin around her, she winced slightly as her eyes refused to adjust to the daylight. Deciding that it was useless to bother trying to see, she just kept her eyes closed and tried to feel her way towards the bathroom door. She knew it was somewhere along the left side of the room . . . the set-up of Brian's bedroom was just the complete opposite of her room . . . how hard could it be to find her way?
Before she got far, she heard some loud laughter coming from behind her. It was, of course, unmistakably Sirius'.
"What?" she grumbled aloud, still clinging tightly to the towel in her arms, yet not bothering to open her eyes.
"What on earth are you doing?" He asked cheerfully.
"For your information," she practically snapped at him, "I'm trying to get my arse out of YOUR room and into the shower before my mom gets in here." Sirius just laughed louder, much to Joey's annoyance.
"Joey, look where you are," he said rather assertively. Joey squinted one of her eyes open and peaked around in the direction she was feeling around towards. When her eye focused and she realized the wall she was looking at, her other eye popped open and she peered around dazedly.
"How the hell did I get into MY room?" she roughly asked of the guy standing behind her. Joey's angry demeanor changed almost immediately when she noticed that Sirius was standing in the bathroom, combing his wet hair in nothing but a pair of blue jeans that were so dark they nearly looked black against his lightly tan skin.
Sirius couldn't help but smirk at Joey's seemingly vulgar language. It was no doubt a simple side-affect from lack of sleep. Joey always had a profane mouth in the morning . . . Sirius thought it was one of her more adorable attributes.
"I carried you in there this morning," he said with a laugh. "Your dad came knocking on my door and I had to hide you under the covers. Then he told me he still needed to wake you and your brothers up, so I took the opportunity to carry you into your room when he left to rouse Brian and Sam."
Joey was now standing behind Sirius as he continued to comb his knotted hair out into smooth, yet still remarkably shaggy, locks. She leaned her forehead up against his bare back while hooking a few fingers into the butt pockets of his jeans. Her eyes drooped lazily before closing in exhaustion. "Thank you for not waking me up," she mumbled, trying to fight back the drowsiness in a losing battle.
"Well, I did TRY to wake you up," he admitted with a hearty laugh. "Only, you were so sound asleep I practically thought I should check your pulse to make sure you were still alive." A smile cracked on Joey's face. "Then I had to make up some fib about your mom coming down the hallway about to see you in my bed. That certainly got you up in a flash." Joey's eyes narrowed and she glared at the boy smiling back at her through the bathroom mirror. "Well it was entertaining to watch you try to find a non-existent door on the opposite side of you room," he offered rather smarmily.
"Yeah, yeah," she said wryly, giving Sirius a contemptuous poke in the butt. "Now get out so I can shower and we can eat."
It was about 20 minutes later when they finally arrived in the kitchen downstairs. (Though Joey had claimed it was only 15 minutes since she was in denial that she was in the shower for longer than 10.) But aside from that, breakfast was still hot and ready, nonetheless, and still tasted just as delicious.
After all the morning greetings, Joey and Sirius joined the family squeezed around the kitchen table, and started filling their plates up with food. It was just as Joey was pouring some orange juice for Sirius and herself that her mother addressed one of her brothers at the table.
"I received a letter from the ministry this morning, Josh," Betty mentioned, sounding rather casual.
Josh did his best to swallow half of what was in his mouth, and just tried speaking around the rest. "What about, Mum?" he managed to choke out.
"Well, they were aware of our plans to vacation in the states this holiday, and had kindly informed your father and myself of a Christmas ball taking place in the home of one of our more influential associates from over there. They want us to go and make an appearance on part of Europe's Ministry of Magic."
"Why do we have any associates from the states?" Josh asked, sounding rather confused.
"Well, apparently they don't live continuously over there. They bought a house in the U.K. not long ago. In fact, they happen to live just outside of London for most of the year, and they've recently become one of the most significant correlates of the Ministry of Magic here in Europe and the one in America."
No one at the table was really listening to Mrs. Atramentous except for Josh. He seemed to be very interested in what she was talking about, but the rest of the family continued to eagerly take mouthfuls of the food on their plates. Joey was idly sipping at her orange juice as her mother and brother continued conversing. Needless to say, she did NOT expect the conversation to turn the way it did.
"So have we met this family before? Are they ever at the Ministry during the work week?" Josh asked skeptically.
Betty took a sip of her tea and nodded as she swallowed the warm contents of her cup. "Well, yes . . . the father is at least. The mother is a professor at the Salem Witch Academy in America, so she lives at the boarding school for most of the days out of the year. But I believe, if my memory serves me correctly, that they have a daughter who goes to school at Hogwarts. She transferred from Salem not too long ago."
The attention in the kitchen changed its way over to the only two Hogwarts students at the table. Joey and Sirius perked up in their seats, completely unaware of what the conversation was about or the direction it had turned. If they had only been paying attention, they would have realized where all the clues had pointed too.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Joey asked, trying to act like she had been listening the whole time.
"We were just wondering if you knew of any transfer students who are going to Hogwarts right now." Betty recapped. Sirius and Joey both shrugged, not being able to think of anyone at the moment.
"Do you know their last name, by chance?" Sirius inquired, now curious as to where this was leading. Joey continued to idly sip her orange juice as they waited for her mother to answer.
"I think it was something like . . . Stupet or Struppet . . . something along those lines, perhaps," Betty trailed off rather carelessly, trying her best to get her aging mind to remember. The silence at the table was broken as Joey had clearly inhaled a good portion of her juice and was now coughing it all over the breakfast table. Betty gave her daughter a worried look. "Are you alright, sweetheart?" Mr. Atramentous absentmindedly began patting his daughter on the back, eyes not parting from the newspaper he had splayed in front of him.
Finally managing to get a hold of her breathing again, Joey flashed Sirius a freaked-out look and turned back to her mother. "STRUMPET?" she practically spat out, trying to enunciate it as clearly as possible. She MUST not have heard her mother correctly before. Betty clasped her hands together as the memory dawned on her.
"That's the one!" she said ecstatically, glad that the name finally came to her whether someone had had to assist her or not.
"Omigod," Joey breathed out more to herself than aloud. She still managed to receive a load of confused glances from everyone at the table, save Sirius. He, too, was looking rather pale. Of all the chances in the world . . . who would have thought?
Rather abruptly, Joey stood up from the table, muttered a few excuses, and grabbed Sirius by the collar before herding him out of the kitchen behind her . . . This situation called for some dire plans to be made.
At the top of the stairs, she dropped his shirt and headed off into her room, mind buzzing, yet not filling Sirius in on anything.
"Joey . . .?" Sirius asked hesitantly, following her into her room. "Joey! Tell me what the heck is up!"
Joey was flipping open the suitcase that she had already started packing a few days earlier. Squishing down the already packed clothes as far as they would budge, she turned around and was at her closet door in a flash. Rummaging through its contents, she finally yanked out a familiar-looking ball gown and made her way back to the open suitcase.
Sirius grabbed her and spun her around mid-rampage, and look her straight in the eyes, appearing as though he were trying to decide whether she had truly gone crazy or not.
"Are you okay?!" he asked sounding genuinely worried. Joey seemed to have gotten shaken out of her weird reverie with this inquiry. She looked Sirius hard in the eye as she spoke.
"Sirius, we're going to that ball." The handsome young man in front of her stared back at her blankly for a few moments before what she had said finally registered.
"What- . . . why?" he managed to finally sputter out. Joey shook her head with a lack of anything to say. She didn't really have a reason, come to think of it.
"I just . . . I have to go," she finally said. "I need to see her family . . . her home, her parents. I'm just . . . curious, I suppose. Maybe I'll find some answers as to why she's so . . . so . . . evil."
Sirius considered his girlfriend for a moment. She certainly did have a point. But the concept that she had clearly used the word 'we' when expressing her need to attend that ball was certainly the real issue here. Not only was she NOT invited to this ball, but she was also dragging Sirius along as well, undoubtedly cooking up a plan that would get them both in a good amount of trouble in the end.
"And I'm assuming you want me to go with you . . ." he stated more that asked. Joey nodded and her brow knitted together in consternation. Sirius heaved a sigh and gave her half a smile. "Alright," he conceded. "But I need some dress robes, mind you . . . and some nicer shoes as well."
The grin that spread across Joey's face at that moment made the whole affair completely worth it to Sirius. She grabbed Sirius' hand, turned on her heels, and headed off towards Brian's room. Undoubtedly on her way to sneak some dress robes and shoes out of her brother's closet, Sirius thought to himself with a smirk.
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And then they'll finish packing and then they'll be in the states. *uncomfortable smile* I KnOw, I kNoW . . . I am certainly progressing through this story rather slowly . . . but you don't need to tell me this! I have enough voices in my head yelling at me about it already! ; }
But I hope you liked this chapter nonetheless! The next one will come out . . . well, frankly, I don't really know. Just think, though . . . I get out of school June 16th . . . so if anything happens before then, well that's just gravy. LOL! Meantime, I will continue to die in honors chem. *cheesy grin* Okay, I know that was random, but it's by far my worst subject, and I really am dying in there. But I'd rather not think about that right now. =/ Since, as of right now, it's 1:36 on April 13th, so it's already been my birthday for an hour and thirty six minutes. *even bigger grin*
And, of course, a specially gi-mungous thank you to:
Kiwi (give up? Ha never! LMAO! Had me cracking up, but it's the truth! Thanks for the review!),
singingvalentine (*cringe* . . . go ahead . . . throw something at me . . . that was a verrrrrry long wait, I know *sobs* But still . . . Thanks so much for the review!),
Jenstarz (thanks so much for the review! You rock!),
Snap (*wink wink* hope you're having fun in Disney Land on my BIRTHDAY),
Greenfairie (Good to hear from you again! Thanks so much for the review! Means a bundle!)
Casco (*wink wink* you better have gotten me something nice. LOL! JK.),
Sakura (thanks for letting me know you were still around! Puts a mind at ease, and it's great to hear from you! Yes, school IS a major bitch . . . I can't even BEGIN to say . . . but we just have to hang on a little bit longer. *author tries to suppress a groan* . . . only, what is it?, like two months of school left? I don't know how it is for you, but I'm sure we can all just hang in there a little longer! Thanks so much for your continuous support! Means the world!),
Queen Cari (I DID write some more! And some more . . . just took a little while! Lol!),
Angel 76 (I wrote more, DAMN IT! LMFAO. Thanks for the review. It was inspiring whether your muse left you or not. =),
Rrowan J. Weasley (all in one day? Yipes. Haha! And I made you wait this long time for the next one too . . .*hangs head in shame* But I hoped you liked it! ; ),
Abby (Wow! *blush* Thanks so much!),
Sirius' sweetie (lol, by the way . . . love the penname. Hehe! And thanks a bunch for the review!),
fallenistari (LOL! Yes I do have a 22 year old brother and a handful of older male cousins. That's six years older than me, and YES at times I don't get along with him . . . but for the most part he's an awesome influence in my life and I'm glad to have him around. Hehe! And, as a side note, when you get older and you both mature, you start getting along MUCH better than you did as youngsters . . . I think you just appreciate each other more. I dunno. But I actually modeled the character Brian after my older brother. *blush* Just don't tell him I said so. ; ),
Padfootess/ Emmah-Leah/ previous Marauder-luver-forever (hehe! So many names, can't keep up with you gurl! LOL! Thanks so much for the review! And, yes, I love Brian too! *see previous comment* And I hope you enjoyed Sirius at the mall. *sly grin* And Sirius on skis is STILL yet to come! Stick around!),
soccerchic1989 (thanks so much for reviewing! I'm always pleased to hear from everyone! So glad you like it! And I'm so sorry this one took a while to come out! =) ,
MarauderFan4ever (Yes, yes . . .but our Sirius in ski clothes has YET to make it to the big scene . . . that's what next chapter's for, for sure! Thanks so much for reviewing!),
frostedflake333 (*grin* Thanks so much for reviewing! I'm glad you're enjoying it!),
Bajan Girl (Yes! Someone else who was looking forward to the midnight excursions as much as I was! LMFAO! Glad I'm not the only one! *giggles compulsively* Thanks for reviewing!),
glitter kitty (Awesome! Thanks for the review! Hope you enjoyed their shopping adventures! Hehe! I know I enjoyed writing it!), and (insert clichéd 'last but not least' here):
Mz Marauder! (*giggles* Yesmmm . . . I think we ALL agree with Joey there! Hehe! Thanks so much for reading and reviewing! Means a ton!)