Sirius Black prided himself on not forming romantic attachments, and this time was no exception. Rosa Stork, the heiress to her family's fortune, had surprised him by how easily she fell for him, but that was of no importance. They never did figure him out, because wealthy young women were not in the habit of writing a book on their romantic lives. That would be inappropriate. So, as he romanced every girl with money in town, he was never discovered, and whoever this woman was, she always thought hers was the only heart he had ever broken. And by the time that someone finally did get suspicious, he was long gone.
He was aware that he was handsome, and charming at that. He knew how to make a girl's knees give out or make her hyperventilate upon his entering a room. To say that he was a little conceited wouldn't be an exaggeration, but he felt he deserved to be. This time had surprised him, though. Rosa had always rolled her eyes when other girls swooned, laughed a little cruelly when other girls giggled shyly. Somehow, she had been no different than the others, and if that didn't add to one's ego, then what did?
Pushing that thought out of his mind, Sirius returned to wondering when he should mention his sick distant relative, who needed a ridiculously priced antidote if he wanted to live. Rosa would offer to pay for part (or all) of the medicine, and then he would convince her that marriage wasn't possible, considering the difference in their social position. After all, his father had only left him a tiny portion of his estate. That plan always worked.
Seeing the thick snow falling outside, he decided it was time to leave and hurriedly pulled on his cloak and a scarf. Huge snowflakes landed in his hair and eyelashes as he walked down the street, turning towards the lake. It was frozen now, but the ice was thin, so no one was there to see him enter the forest on the lake's west side. A dirt path lead to the spot he was looking for, and thankfully the trees had shielded it from most of the snow. About two minutes later, he had reached his destination and was not surprised to see Rosa already waiting for him, sitting on an old log.
Sirius had never really considered a girl beautiful (part of his wonderful ability to refrain from romantic attractions), but Rosa came the closest to his definition. Long, curly dark red hair flowed down to her back when it was down, and little wisps escaped from the confines of the numerous pins keeping her hair in place. Her eyes were bright blue, her nose had a little bump in it that gave her face some quality he couldn't quite name, and there were a few freckles scattered across her nose and cheeks.
"Sirius," she smiled, standing up excitedly but elegantly at the same time. Returning the smile, he took her hand and kissed it, carefully watching her expression. Her cheeks were pink from the cold, but he was sure he saw their colour deepen as he let go of her hand. She took a few steps towards him until he could hear her breathing. Slowly and gently, he tilted her chin up and placed his lips upon hers, wrapping his arms around her as he continued to kiss her. Rosa returned the kiss more than he felt was considered ladylike, but that didn't bother him. Her fingers tangled themselves into his hair, but he was waiting for her to break away before he could mention his terribly ill second cousin's grandmother's friend's nephew.
However, she didn't pull away until several minutes later, looking slightly out of breath. A small kiss on her cheek was followed by several more down her jaw and neck. Just as he had reached her collar and opened his mouth to continue with his plan, she spoke.
"What are you getting me for my birthday?" asked Rosa, causing Sirius to curse in his head. He sat down on the log and motioned for her to follow.
"What do you want?"
She smiled.
"Anything. As long as it's from you."
Sirius placed a kiss on her forehead, and said, "You have to give me some ideas." He had forgotten her birthday, though he didn't know how. A girl's sixteenth birthday wasn't something that passed without acknowledgement. Whenever a girl turned sixteen, the whole town knew about it, Sirius especially, since that immediately left her name off his list.
"Roses are my favourite flowers," suggested she, placing her hand over his. Naturally, with her name, thought Sirius. As Rosa spoke, she looked down at their hands, as if embarrassed. "I will be old enough to marry when I turn sixteen..." She left the sentence to dangle in the air, waiting for him to say something. This was always the hardest part for him, and he never got it quite right.
"I know," he whispered, almost wincing in pain. "I know."
Hearing this, Rosa seemed somewhat assured and placed her head on his shoulder, sighing contentedly. Still, Sirius felt awkward, but put an arm around her shoulder anyway. He closed his eyes, and soon his breathing became deep and long as he drifted closer and closer to sleep.
A lot of time must have past when Sirius woke up, because the snow was falling much faster now.
"Rosa," he said as he gently shook her. Her eyes opened quickly.
"Perhaps I should go now," she replied. "It looks like a storm." Sirius wondered if she would get into trouble for being out so late, and if her parents would get suspicious. She was covered in a thin layer of snow, and he could only assume he looked the same.
"Goodnight," he said, remembering the roses. He had a good feeling there he could find some deeper in the forest. He would get her roses, then head back before the storm got any worse.
"Goodnight," she whispered, placing a kiss on his cheek and brushing his hair out of his eyes. The two went in opposite directions, both feeling opposite emotions. While Rosa was in a state of bliss, Sirius knew he should have mentioned his sick relative earlier than today. If only he had remembered her birthday! After this evening, she would be waiting for him to propose, and every time he didn't she would be less and less willing to give him the money.
Probably best just to leave, Sirius thought as he searched high and low for that accursed rose. Angrily, he wondered why he hadn't just bought the rose, but as he turned around, he realized he was lost. The snow was falling hard now and the wind howled as it swept through the swirling flakes. After finding what he thought was a hopeful direction, he began walking straight, trying his best to avoid bumping into trees and failing miserably.
Rosa was probably at home by now, humming the wedding march or already in bed, dreaming of roses or whatever it was Rosa dreamt of. Sirius felt a pang of jealousy just thinking of her, out of the freezing cold.
His thoughts were interrupted by a howl he knew wasn't the wind. This was different; it had been made by some kind of animal. Eyes widening in fear, Sirius put his arms out in front of him and took a few more steps until he bumped into something rather... wall-like. Upon closer inspection, Sirius decided it was indeed a wall, one belonging to a house. Surely the owners wouldn't mind his intrusion, what with that storm and that animal. So, that in mind, he felt along the wall until he came to a door, but not before he had picked one of the roses surrounding the building and put it in his pocket. Quickly, he felt for the doorknob, found it, opened the door, and stepped inside.
Again, the creature howled, and with a feeling like there was something very, very heavy in his stomach, Sirius realized that it was inside the building.
It must have heard him come in, because it appeared from a corridor on his right and stood in front of him, waiting for him to move. Frozen to the spot, Sirius waited as the creature he was now sure was a werewolf began to inch closer, baring its teeth and snarling. Intelligent amber eyes stared at him, keeping him transfixed. And then, suddenly, Sirius was running, but he didn't know where to. He simply took off in one direction and found himself in a long hallway. Without waiting to make up his mind, he ran straight, but the werewolf was behind him. Quickly, he bolted into a room on his right and pushed against the door as the werewolf continually threw itself against it.
There was a moment of silence before the werewolf began scratching wildly at the door. Knowing he wouldn't be able to last much longer, Sirius looked around the room for something barricade the door with. Finally, he noticed a window and, while keeping his back to the door, picked up a chair and hurled it at the glass, which shattered and landed in all directions. A piece of glass grazed his hand, but he ignored the slight pain and prepared to jump out the window. The werewolf growled from the other side of the door, but it had stopped attacking the door. Sirius took a deep breath, ran, and jumped.
When Sirius went to run away after landing like anyone with half a brain would, he found he had twisted his ankle. He let out a little yelp of fear as the werewolf leapt out after him, and struggled to get up and run. Normally, the werewolf would have caught any human, but Sirius, trying to run with a limp, was caught without any effort on the werewolf's part. It threw him forward onto the ground, lowering its jaws to his shoulders, sniffing at him.
A small whimper escaped both the werewolf and Sirius at the same time and both were still for a moment. Then, the werewolf sniffed him again, growling quietly, almost like a purr, but more sinister. It howled victoriously and dug its claws into his shoulders, making him bite back a scream. Finally, it lowered its muzzle to his neck once more and was preparing to finish him off, when it howled again, but this time in pain. It fell off him as it howled again and again. Sirius put his hands over his ears at the awful sound, watching in horror as the werewolf's body began to shake violently and its muzzle began to contort into a human face. He scrambled backwards but was unable to take his eyes away from the terrible transformation, watching as paws uncurled into hands and feet, as limbs lengthened and shortened, as the tail disappeared, until, finally, where the werewolf once was lay a young man.
Sirius was surprised by the fact that this boy seemed not much older than himself, despite the fact that his light brown hair was greying in some areas. He had always thought werewolves were crazy old men who had hairy palms and uni-brows lived in shacks. Looking at the house he assumed this boy must live in, Sirius felt his stereotype had a grain of truth in it. Coming back to his senses, Sirius checked his pockets for anything silver, but had nothing except the rose in his pocket and werewolves probably didn't keep silver handy in their homes. But if this werewolf was so bloodthirsty, why wasn't it chasing him? Then again, this werewolf looked nothing like the ones in stories, so perhaps he was vegetarian outside his lupine form? Sirius doubted this.
The boy was small and terribly thin and covered in scars along with a few fresh cuts (some of which Sirius thought may have come from the glass of the window), and when he wearily raised his head, Sirius was met with the same amber eyes of the wolf. Again, he found himself staring into the eyes of the thing that had almost killed him.
"Wha... What are you d-doing here?" asked the wolf-boy, his voice raspy, and his words unsure.
Swallowing the lump in his throat, Sirius answered quietly, "I was looking for a rose." He forced a dry laugh, and the other boy frowned at him, confused. He shook his head, and Sirius was reminded of a dog drying off.
"You shouldn't be here," said the boy, still staring at Sirius as he shivered, naked in the cold snow. "You shouldn't be here," he repeated, more to himself this time.
"I-I-I'm sorry, I... I... Please don't eat me," squeaked Sirius, voicing the one thought he could come up with.
The boy's eyes widened. "No- I- You couldn't have... I mean, I... You?" He whispered the last two words, his face frozen in a look of terror that Sirius was sure mirrored his expression when the werewolf had been about to tear his throat out.
That was the last thing he said before Sirius passed out.