Disclaimer: Anything that you recognise, I don't own. It all belongs to the Goddess, a.k.a, JK Rowling.
Chapter Four: Toast on Fire"Love is a fire. But whether it is going to warm your heart or burn down your house, you can never tell."
-Joan Crawford
The next morning Sirius awoke to the smell of bacon and the pain of a crick in his neck. He grumbled for a few minutes about people who don't have spare bedrooms and rose off the couch to find Anna smirking at him over her cup of coffee.
"You could have just slept in your dog form. I'm sure that would've been more comfortable. I rather think I prefer you that way. Obedient. Loyal. Silent." Sirius growled at her as she chortled under her breath.
"Stop looking so charmingly indignant and help me cook breakfast."
"Charming, hey?" He remarked with a cheeky smile. "You think I'm charming?"
"Prat," she said, shoving a loaf of bread into his arms. "Get toasting." He smirked at her and whipped out his wand. Deftly slicing the bread, he set out about toasting it with his wand.
"You gave me quite a scare this morning," she said from the stove.
"How's that?" he asked curiously.
"I woke up in my bed and not on the couch and freaked out. I thought I had dreamed this whole thing. Thought I was going mad."
"Sorry," he replied sheepishly. "I saw you sleeping on the couch and felt really guilty about stealing your bed."
"S'right. Just wake me up next time."
Sirius grinned. "Oh, but you did wake up. You don't remember? Maybe you were sleep talking. Anyway, you woke up and professed your undying love for me. Yeah, you really did. You told me that you'd been pining for me and that you were aching to just jump on –"
Anna raised an eyebrow sardonically and amusedly glanced over his shoulder. "Sirius, the toast is on fire."
Sirius turned to find that he had left his wand heating up the toast, which had indeed caught on fire. Swearing, he grabbed his wand and sent a jet of water to douse the flames. Once the fire was extinguished he turned back to find Anna doubled up with laughter, her eyes watering with glee.
"Shut up," he said with a rakish grin. "Don't make me come after you."
She tried to stem her laughter as she choked out, "Come after me – will you now?"
Sirius bounded towards her, and with a girlish shriek she turned into the nightingale and flew to perch on the top of a tall bookshelf, out of the reach of Sirius' hand.
"Okay, okay, I won't hurt you."
She chirped sceptically.
"I promise. I promise I won't hurt you."
She cocked her head to the side before flying down onto his hand and nibbled affectionately on a finger. He chuckled. "You can change back now."
She chirped, flew in a circle and changed back into Anna. She grinned at him, looking deep into his eyes, and for a moment Sirius was sure he was about to be lost in her pale grey eyes but a distraction in the form of a small, silky black owl appeared.
"Helena!" Anna exclaimed, moving towards the owl. She quickly removed the letter that was attached to the owl's leg. Helena flew over to the kitchen where she nibbled on Sirius' more successful attempts at toast.
"From Albus. This one's for you."
Sirius took the proffered letter and ripped it open. His eyes skimmed across the familiar, spidery handwriting.
Dear Snuffles,
How are you feeling? I do hope that you have recovered from your fever. I must admit feeling rather perplexed when Anna sent Helena to me. How on earth did you get so lost? Remus' house is miles away! Still, it is rather fortunate that you were to stumble across Anna and not fall sick in the middle of the wilderness.
So you have discovered our Miss Fair? She is a rather remarkable young woman, is she not? Be careful with her Sirius, she is more delicate that she looks and there are a lot of short-tempered people that care a lot about her, myself included, who would not hesitate to turn you into a dirty sock should you hurt her. But I don't think you will. You should k now that our little nightingale has a lot of history that I'm sure she'll tell you when she feels ready, but don't push her, she'll tell you when she wants to and no sooner. Trust me, I've tried to push this girl before and have felt the rather painful repercussions. I think perhaps it would be highly convenient for you to stay with Anna until we can set up a Headquarters for you both to stay in. Your suggestion of using your old house in London is certainly something that we will have to look in to.
There isn't much else that I can say in a letter in case it is intercepted, but I'm sure your just dying to hear about young Harry. School, as I'm sure you know, went out two weeks ago and Harry has of course gone home to his Muggle relatives. I hope that we can get him out of there soon; I know how much he hates it. Arabella has been keeping a close eye on him and apart from being quite restless, which is to be expected, he's doing fine. Write to him. I'm sure he would love to hear from you.
In the meantime, keep yourself and Anna safe, don't do anything reckless and be patient with her.
From Albus.
Sirius looked up from the letter, the words churning in his head, to see Anna sitting atop the kitchen counter, chuckling softly at the parchment in her hand.
"And what are you laughing at, Miss Fair?"
"Just at Albus' description of a certain big, black dog he once knew, quite similar to one I have presently in my care. He tells me that this dog is a very complex creature, not be toyed with or taken lightly. And that I should be very careful that I don't allow this highly mischievous animal to deceive or brainwash me against another young man that I happen to be in acquaintance with."
Confused, Sirius raised his eyebrows. "What on earth is that supposed to mean?"
Anna sighed, folding up the letter. "We'll see... We'll see."
A/N: Aahhh, another chapter done. Yay! Thankyou everyone for your wonderful reviews, my parents think that I'm crazy, I was happy-dancing all over the house after I received them. Thankyou! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, now on to the next chapter, "Purely for Scientific Purposes."