A/N- OK, I know I promised to have this updated in two weeks, but I got held up at the airport for an extra day and things just got backed up from there. But like a good girl, I kept up with my writing over my trip and have written chapters seven (evidently) and eight. The catch is that I'm gonna give you all a couple of days to read and review before I post chapter eight. Evil, huh? But, I don't even know how many reviewers I've lost in my most unfortunate absence. Well, for now, read up and enjoy. Thank you so much for your patience!
Reviewers:
Professor-fidget- I thought I hadn't given you a cliffhanger! (Shows what I know) but you can give me credit for trying, right? Anyway, thanks for your reviews, I love them and your really very constant about it all!
Snuffles2984- Well, I do hope I made the period of their Christmas break interesting enough... you can judge that. But thank you again for your wonderful review, and (as if I don't tell you enough on the reviews for it) amazing job with Fallen, as always! You truly deserve all two hundred reviews!
MidnightPrincess- sorry I didn't update soon... don't kill me? { puppy eyes }
Star of the Muses- glad you liked it, keep reviewing!
Only four reviews? Is that the best you can do? Sheesh I feel like my mother... do you want your cell phone privileges taken away? –
Disclaimer-I swear, one day I'll rebel and not write a disclaimer, or just "forget", you know. But as for today, I'm too much of a chickenshit (scuz the French) to do that. So please, don't sue me. Preciate it.
CHAPTER #7 Fay Speaks
The next day, Sirius rose early to make sure that he had enough time to see his friends off. And anyway, the prospect of staying with the girl –Fay, was enough to keep him up all night. Looking out the window at the newly risen sun, Sirius estimated that it was about seven thirty in the morning. He left the dormitory quietly so as not to wake his friends and went to take a shower.
About twenty minutes later, Sirius descended down the steps, ruffling his dark hair in order to dry it manually. By now there were a few people scattered about the common room, most of them looking as though they were still asleep. One group of fourth year girls was pointing at him and giggling, rather obviously. As he passed, Sirius could have sworn he heard one of them say, "He looks good wet." He pretended not to hear this as he went to sit in his favorite chair by the fire.
The attention he always got from girls made him extremely uncomfortable. For some reason, up until this year, he had always kept girls at arms length, slightly off-handed by how much they seemed to like him. This always caused any potential girlfriends to get broken-hearted or back down. It was never anything personal, of course, but their interest in Sirius had always given off a reverse affect. He had never really wanted anything to do with girls at all. That was why he felt so confused and confronted about Fay. Perhaps it was because she was the only girl who didn't goggle at him. Perhaps it was simply his first real attraction. She was defiantly the most interesting girl he had met thus far. Whatever the case, Fay was taking hold of his imagination, and he didn't know quite how to handle it.
Sirius had been so deep in thought that his pensive gaze into the fire had prevented him from noticing his three friends join him- Remus and James slopping their trunks directly under his nose.
"Oy!" Laughed James, slapping Sirius playfully on the back of the head.
"Wha-" Sirius rubbed his head irritably and continued to stare into the fireplace, undaunted by the slap. Remus waved a hand in front of Sirius's passive-looking gray eyes, finally causing him to look away.
"Oh, hey guys," said Sirius, as though his friends had only just joined him.
James let out a small huff and knocked on the top of Sirius's head with his fist. "Hello, is my friends Sirius in there?"
"Haha, original," said Sirius forcibly, slightly annoyed at first at having lost his train of thought. His annoyance quickly ebbed away, however, when he remembered who he had been waiting for in the first place.
"Getting ready to leave me, I suppose?" He said with a half-hearted smile.
"I'm not leaving you, Sirius!" said Peter huffily.
They all ignored him, agreeing silently that Peter was best off if left alone in the mornings, as his care required too much patience. He was like a difficult and, admittedly, useless house pet.
"Yeah, sorry mate. We just wanted to bid farewell and God's speed whilst ye noble gentlemen hold down the Piaf this holiday," said James, who was now picking up his trunk again.
"It's only two weeks, remember," added Remus, whose sick-looking young face was darting from him to Peter with the utmost sympathy.
"Yeah," two weeks sounded more like two years.
"Take care, Padfoot."
"It'll be over soon. Have a good holiday."
Sirius raised a hand in a stationary wave as he sighed and watched James and Remus climb through the portrait hole as best they could with their large trunks, leaving him alone with Peter. He knew he had much to be grateful for- any les time spent among his family was well spent. Yet, he always felt empty when he was abandoned by his friends over breaks. They were the sanity in which he embellished. Peter was a friend, true enough, but he just wasn't James Potter or Remus Lupin. With one last intake of breath to ensure patience and strength, Sirius turned to Peter and said:
"Well Wormtail, shall we dine?"
"Thank Merlin, I'm dying of starvation," said Peter, scampering toward the portrait hole.
Down in the great Hall, festive decoration had adorned the walls and corners, reminding the few staying behind that Christmas was drawing near. When Peter and Sirius entered, a passing knight opened its visor and began to chant God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen very loudly. Mistletoe and ribbon was scattered throughout the hall, and twelve large Christmas trees were spaced along the walls. The house and staff tables had been stacked outside in a corridor and replaced by a single, high mahogany table in the middle of the room, set with exactly the right amount of chairs for each person spending their vacation in the castle.
If Fay Farthing was indeed staying at Hogwarts over break, Sirius didn't see her, because she didn't come to breakfast. By the end of the meal, Sirius was not exactly in high spirits. Aside from the fact that he hadn't yet seen Fay, Peter was being very obnoxious and stupid, and he found himself wishing fervently for James's and Remus's return only an hour after they both had left.
Deciding he needed time to clear his head, Sirius left the small table, pushed in his chair, and told Peter that he was going for a walk, and that he would meet up with him later in the Tower. Reluctantly, Peter assented, and Sirius stood in the doorway for a few minutes as he watched the chubby boy walk, hunched, taking his time and staring at his dragging feet up the marble staircase to Gryffindor Tower. Sirius noted briefly that Peter's mannerisms strongly resembled those of the rodent he turned into once a month.
Figuring that his time without James and Remus would at least give him some rare opportunities to think, Sirius decided to take his stroll down the hallway that was home to the room he had spent the night in months before. He had considered going outside; it was a nice day out- but he also knew that if he went out on the grounds he would meet any other students who had remained in the castle, and he was feeling rather antisocial at the moment.
Sirius turned down the slightly familiar passageway. Now most assuredly alone, he turned his thoughts once again to the subject that had dominated them for what seemed like years: Fay. Again, he couldn't understand what was so fascinating about her. He was enraptured. In the past couple of months, he had come to appreciate her subtle beauty, which had not made itself quite so apparent on the first night he'd seen her. But now, having glanced at her so very often, Sirius saw that she was riveting. Her eyes, that so often and so unusually changed color, emitted an almost fiery spirit like that of a wild mare. Her flyaway hair gave her the look of a cherub, and her delicate hands were like a faerie's. He also found himself constantly marveling at her impeccably smooth skin, which eerily resembled that of a porcelain doll. What was it, he wondered, that gave her these distinct features? He half hoped that the answer would come to him in his dreams- that they would tell him what made her so ethereal. But no dreams came. He hadn't had one that he could remember, in fact, since the dream about the fields of heather some weeks ago. He slowed his pace as he tried to recall the pipe music that had drifted from a distance. He could almost hear them just as though they were playing somewhere not too far off.
Sirius's eyes flashed open, and he stared around warily. There was pipe music playing from somewhere. Somewhere close. Straining his ears, he tried to make sure his imagination was not going haywire. Following the roguish sound, he began to walk faster, until he found himself right across from the tapestry of Barabus the Barmy. Puzzled, he turned to look at where the door to the bedroom had been. But it was not the same door. In place of the large mahogany frame was a creaky wooden door overgrown with vines. The pipe music continued to come from what seemed to be the other side. Utterly perplexed, Sirius reached out to touch the knob, trying to confirm his sanity. It was solid.
"Why not?" He said quietly to himself, and he turned the handle.
As the door opened, the pipe music stopped. He heard a small shriek and scampering as he opened the frame wide. He gasped. Apparently, the inside of the room had changed with the door. It was like stepping outside. The room mimicked uncannily a widespread field of heather, and even smelled like the plant. The walls had been bewitched to imitate the sky, like the Great Hall, so that one could have easily walked right into them. Staring around, it suddenly dawned on Sirius what his dream had portrayed, and what this room was doing such a good job of embodying. It was a moor. He looked around for who had shrieked.
Cowering and standing flat against the wall with her eyes shut tight, was Fay. She held a bundle in her arms and seemed to be concentrating with all her might on not opening her eyes. Sirius carefully closed the door and heard it click behind him as it had done when he had sought refuge in the room. He was afraid of what to say, Fay looked terrified.
"Um....." Sirius began lamely. She winced as though he had struck her, but as they were on opposite sides of the....well, the moor, he knew he had done no such thing. He tried to offer words of comfort. "I... I'm sorry, to um... barge in on you. It's just that... well, I've been here before and... it wasn't the same. I just heard music and wondered why it was coming from in here and... I'm sorry."
Tentatively, she opened one eye. "Sirius?"
Sirius said nothing; he was too baffled at the fact that she knew his name.
"You could see me?" She asked, now lifting both her lids and looking a bit less rigid.
"Um, yeah. Why wouldn't-"
Fay let out a frustrated cry and punched the sky/wall with the back of her fist, still leaning back against it. To his horror, Sirius could see tears leak out of her large pale blue eyes. He had no clue how to handle this, but walked over and slowly arranged himself, rather uncomfortably, on a large bolder placed to the left of where Fay was standing.
"Are you okay?" He asked her. She looked over at him as though she had forgotten he was there. She hastily wiped away her tears and sniffed.
"How did you get in here? The door was locked," she said, avoiding Sirius's question.
"Well, no, it wasn't. At least not when I came in." He finished and cast around the room for an excuse to stay and talk with her.
"So... do you have any idea what this room is? I mean it's amazing. The first time I came it was a bedroom, and the next couple of times after that it wasn't here at all. And now it's a..."
"A moor."
"Well...yeah."
"I don't know what it is or how it works, exactly, but whenever I need some... some time alone, I come here, and usually no one finds me. Sometimes I don't even think they can see the door. But you did. And it opened for you. Why?"
"I dunno," said Sirius earnestly. An awkward silence fell between the two of them, and then Sirius remembered: "Well, actually, I heard music."
Fay looked horrified as she ran a hand down her face. "You heard me?"
For the first time Sirius felt a bit less nervous, and he laughed. "Yes. I saw you and I heard you. What were you playing, anyway? Pipes, or something?"
She looked at him for a moment, and, to Sirius's complete surprise, actually came over and sat down next to him on the large rock. She said nothing, but pulled a set of bagpipes from the sack under her arms and began to play them, as easily as though she had done it for years. But she did not play any sort of song that Sirius had ever heard. It was eerie, and made him feel a bit uncomfortable. At the same time, though, he found it quite enchanting. When she had finished, she lowered her pipes and said, "Bagpipes."
"Yeah," said Sirius, with a bit of a nervous laugh. "Where the bloody hell did you learn that kind of music?"
"I... just sort of...it's hard to explain," Fay broke off.
"I've got all the time in the world to listen," said Sirius, putting on a charm that he used rarely, except when he needed something from a girl. It usually got them to talk, anyway.
"Well," she began reluctantly. "When I was about, I dunno, maybe seven, eight- I found some bagpipes, abandoned in a bundle on the side of a road. And I just picked them up and... took them out to the moor and started playing them. It came real easy to me, like. Just as easy as if I'd always known how to do it. And the songs, too. I felt like I'd always known them. And... it sounds stupid... but I think... I think I did." She looked away.
Sirius didn't quite know what she meant, but was thinking about what she'd said, trying to piece it together. Her situation seemed familiar, but at the same time, completely absurd. Some one can't just pick up an instrument and be able to play it. Not a normal person, anyway. He thought it best not to say this, however.
"That's not stupid," he said quietly.
Another silence followed these words, and then:
"Yes it is. But sometimes I just think things like that because I cant ever remember much from...before," she said.
Sirius had no idea what this meant. He voiced his thoughts. "What do you mean?"
Fay sighed. "I mean... well I don't remember much of anything from my childhood. Just fleeting glimpses, you know. And I never felt like I belong to my parents. Sometimes I honestly think I got switched off with somebody else."
Sirius let out another sarcastic, dog-like bark of laughter. "I know exactly what you mean there. I'd swear to Merlin that I'm not my mother's son. Actually, I pray that I wasn't. I can't stand her."
For the first time, Sirius heard Fay laugh. It was a high, contagious, gleeful and full of mirth, causing him to smile and laugh again, only this time out of earnest rather than disdain. Fay wrapped her arms around her knees, and looked so like a child.
"You know," she said, turning to him. Her eyes were now an unmistakable light violet, and she was smiling impishly. "You're not that bad, really."
A/N- Okay, hope that was enough to hold you off for a few days. Just remember: READ AND REVIEW! Thanks! Oh! P.S.- what did you guys think about the movie Sirius? A mon avi, he wasn't right at all, not nearly hot enough, lol! Let me know in your reviews!
Reviewers:
Professor-fidget- I thought I hadn't given you a cliffhanger! (Shows what I know) but you can give me credit for trying, right? Anyway, thanks for your reviews, I love them and your really very constant about it all!
Snuffles2984- Well, I do hope I made the period of their Christmas break interesting enough... you can judge that. But thank you again for your wonderful review, and (as if I don't tell you enough on the reviews for it) amazing job with Fallen, as always! You truly deserve all two hundred reviews!
MidnightPrincess- sorry I didn't update soon... don't kill me? { puppy eyes }
Star of the Muses- glad you liked it, keep reviewing!
Only four reviews? Is that the best you can do? Sheesh I feel like my mother... do you want your cell phone privileges taken away? –
Disclaimer-I swear, one day I'll rebel and not write a disclaimer, or just "forget", you know. But as for today, I'm too much of a chickenshit (scuz the French) to do that. So please, don't sue me. Preciate it.
CHAPTER #7 Fay Speaks
The next day, Sirius rose early to make sure that he had enough time to see his friends off. And anyway, the prospect of staying with the girl –Fay, was enough to keep him up all night. Looking out the window at the newly risen sun, Sirius estimated that it was about seven thirty in the morning. He left the dormitory quietly so as not to wake his friends and went to take a shower.
About twenty minutes later, Sirius descended down the steps, ruffling his dark hair in order to dry it manually. By now there were a few people scattered about the common room, most of them looking as though they were still asleep. One group of fourth year girls was pointing at him and giggling, rather obviously. As he passed, Sirius could have sworn he heard one of them say, "He looks good wet." He pretended not to hear this as he went to sit in his favorite chair by the fire.
The attention he always got from girls made him extremely uncomfortable. For some reason, up until this year, he had always kept girls at arms length, slightly off-handed by how much they seemed to like him. This always caused any potential girlfriends to get broken-hearted or back down. It was never anything personal, of course, but their interest in Sirius had always given off a reverse affect. He had never really wanted anything to do with girls at all. That was why he felt so confused and confronted about Fay. Perhaps it was because she was the only girl who didn't goggle at him. Perhaps it was simply his first real attraction. She was defiantly the most interesting girl he had met thus far. Whatever the case, Fay was taking hold of his imagination, and he didn't know quite how to handle it.
Sirius had been so deep in thought that his pensive gaze into the fire had prevented him from noticing his three friends join him- Remus and James slopping their trunks directly under his nose.
"Oy!" Laughed James, slapping Sirius playfully on the back of the head.
"Wha-" Sirius rubbed his head irritably and continued to stare into the fireplace, undaunted by the slap. Remus waved a hand in front of Sirius's passive-looking gray eyes, finally causing him to look away.
"Oh, hey guys," said Sirius, as though his friends had only just joined him.
James let out a small huff and knocked on the top of Sirius's head with his fist. "Hello, is my friends Sirius in there?"
"Haha, original," said Sirius forcibly, slightly annoyed at first at having lost his train of thought. His annoyance quickly ebbed away, however, when he remembered who he had been waiting for in the first place.
"Getting ready to leave me, I suppose?" He said with a half-hearted smile.
"I'm not leaving you, Sirius!" said Peter huffily.
They all ignored him, agreeing silently that Peter was best off if left alone in the mornings, as his care required too much patience. He was like a difficult and, admittedly, useless house pet.
"Yeah, sorry mate. We just wanted to bid farewell and God's speed whilst ye noble gentlemen hold down the Piaf this holiday," said James, who was now picking up his trunk again.
"It's only two weeks, remember," added Remus, whose sick-looking young face was darting from him to Peter with the utmost sympathy.
"Yeah," two weeks sounded more like two years.
"Take care, Padfoot."
"It'll be over soon. Have a good holiday."
Sirius raised a hand in a stationary wave as he sighed and watched James and Remus climb through the portrait hole as best they could with their large trunks, leaving him alone with Peter. He knew he had much to be grateful for- any les time spent among his family was well spent. Yet, he always felt empty when he was abandoned by his friends over breaks. They were the sanity in which he embellished. Peter was a friend, true enough, but he just wasn't James Potter or Remus Lupin. With one last intake of breath to ensure patience and strength, Sirius turned to Peter and said:
"Well Wormtail, shall we dine?"
"Thank Merlin, I'm dying of starvation," said Peter, scampering toward the portrait hole.
Down in the great Hall, festive decoration had adorned the walls and corners, reminding the few staying behind that Christmas was drawing near. When Peter and Sirius entered, a passing knight opened its visor and began to chant God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen very loudly. Mistletoe and ribbon was scattered throughout the hall, and twelve large Christmas trees were spaced along the walls. The house and staff tables had been stacked outside in a corridor and replaced by a single, high mahogany table in the middle of the room, set with exactly the right amount of chairs for each person spending their vacation in the castle.
If Fay Farthing was indeed staying at Hogwarts over break, Sirius didn't see her, because she didn't come to breakfast. By the end of the meal, Sirius was not exactly in high spirits. Aside from the fact that he hadn't yet seen Fay, Peter was being very obnoxious and stupid, and he found himself wishing fervently for James's and Remus's return only an hour after they both had left.
Deciding he needed time to clear his head, Sirius left the small table, pushed in his chair, and told Peter that he was going for a walk, and that he would meet up with him later in the Tower. Reluctantly, Peter assented, and Sirius stood in the doorway for a few minutes as he watched the chubby boy walk, hunched, taking his time and staring at his dragging feet up the marble staircase to Gryffindor Tower. Sirius noted briefly that Peter's mannerisms strongly resembled those of the rodent he turned into once a month.
Figuring that his time without James and Remus would at least give him some rare opportunities to think, Sirius decided to take his stroll down the hallway that was home to the room he had spent the night in months before. He had considered going outside; it was a nice day out- but he also knew that if he went out on the grounds he would meet any other students who had remained in the castle, and he was feeling rather antisocial at the moment.
Sirius turned down the slightly familiar passageway. Now most assuredly alone, he turned his thoughts once again to the subject that had dominated them for what seemed like years: Fay. Again, he couldn't understand what was so fascinating about her. He was enraptured. In the past couple of months, he had come to appreciate her subtle beauty, which had not made itself quite so apparent on the first night he'd seen her. But now, having glanced at her so very often, Sirius saw that she was riveting. Her eyes, that so often and so unusually changed color, emitted an almost fiery spirit like that of a wild mare. Her flyaway hair gave her the look of a cherub, and her delicate hands were like a faerie's. He also found himself constantly marveling at her impeccably smooth skin, which eerily resembled that of a porcelain doll. What was it, he wondered, that gave her these distinct features? He half hoped that the answer would come to him in his dreams- that they would tell him what made her so ethereal. But no dreams came. He hadn't had one that he could remember, in fact, since the dream about the fields of heather some weeks ago. He slowed his pace as he tried to recall the pipe music that had drifted from a distance. He could almost hear them just as though they were playing somewhere not too far off.
Sirius's eyes flashed open, and he stared around warily. There was pipe music playing from somewhere. Somewhere close. Straining his ears, he tried to make sure his imagination was not going haywire. Following the roguish sound, he began to walk faster, until he found himself right across from the tapestry of Barabus the Barmy. Puzzled, he turned to look at where the door to the bedroom had been. But it was not the same door. In place of the large mahogany frame was a creaky wooden door overgrown with vines. The pipe music continued to come from what seemed to be the other side. Utterly perplexed, Sirius reached out to touch the knob, trying to confirm his sanity. It was solid.
"Why not?" He said quietly to himself, and he turned the handle.
As the door opened, the pipe music stopped. He heard a small shriek and scampering as he opened the frame wide. He gasped. Apparently, the inside of the room had changed with the door. It was like stepping outside. The room mimicked uncannily a widespread field of heather, and even smelled like the plant. The walls had been bewitched to imitate the sky, like the Great Hall, so that one could have easily walked right into them. Staring around, it suddenly dawned on Sirius what his dream had portrayed, and what this room was doing such a good job of embodying. It was a moor. He looked around for who had shrieked.
Cowering and standing flat against the wall with her eyes shut tight, was Fay. She held a bundle in her arms and seemed to be concentrating with all her might on not opening her eyes. Sirius carefully closed the door and heard it click behind him as it had done when he had sought refuge in the room. He was afraid of what to say, Fay looked terrified.
"Um....." Sirius began lamely. She winced as though he had struck her, but as they were on opposite sides of the....well, the moor, he knew he had done no such thing. He tried to offer words of comfort. "I... I'm sorry, to um... barge in on you. It's just that... well, I've been here before and... it wasn't the same. I just heard music and wondered why it was coming from in here and... I'm sorry."
Tentatively, she opened one eye. "Sirius?"
Sirius said nothing; he was too baffled at the fact that she knew his name.
"You could see me?" She asked, now lifting both her lids and looking a bit less rigid.
"Um, yeah. Why wouldn't-"
Fay let out a frustrated cry and punched the sky/wall with the back of her fist, still leaning back against it. To his horror, Sirius could see tears leak out of her large pale blue eyes. He had no clue how to handle this, but walked over and slowly arranged himself, rather uncomfortably, on a large bolder placed to the left of where Fay was standing.
"Are you okay?" He asked her. She looked over at him as though she had forgotten he was there. She hastily wiped away her tears and sniffed.
"How did you get in here? The door was locked," she said, avoiding Sirius's question.
"Well, no, it wasn't. At least not when I came in." He finished and cast around the room for an excuse to stay and talk with her.
"So... do you have any idea what this room is? I mean it's amazing. The first time I came it was a bedroom, and the next couple of times after that it wasn't here at all. And now it's a..."
"A moor."
"Well...yeah."
"I don't know what it is or how it works, exactly, but whenever I need some... some time alone, I come here, and usually no one finds me. Sometimes I don't even think they can see the door. But you did. And it opened for you. Why?"
"I dunno," said Sirius earnestly. An awkward silence fell between the two of them, and then Sirius remembered: "Well, actually, I heard music."
Fay looked horrified as she ran a hand down her face. "You heard me?"
For the first time Sirius felt a bit less nervous, and he laughed. "Yes. I saw you and I heard you. What were you playing, anyway? Pipes, or something?"
She looked at him for a moment, and, to Sirius's complete surprise, actually came over and sat down next to him on the large rock. She said nothing, but pulled a set of bagpipes from the sack under her arms and began to play them, as easily as though she had done it for years. But she did not play any sort of song that Sirius had ever heard. It was eerie, and made him feel a bit uncomfortable. At the same time, though, he found it quite enchanting. When she had finished, she lowered her pipes and said, "Bagpipes."
"Yeah," said Sirius, with a bit of a nervous laugh. "Where the bloody hell did you learn that kind of music?"
"I... just sort of...it's hard to explain," Fay broke off.
"I've got all the time in the world to listen," said Sirius, putting on a charm that he used rarely, except when he needed something from a girl. It usually got them to talk, anyway.
"Well," she began reluctantly. "When I was about, I dunno, maybe seven, eight- I found some bagpipes, abandoned in a bundle on the side of a road. And I just picked them up and... took them out to the moor and started playing them. It came real easy to me, like. Just as easy as if I'd always known how to do it. And the songs, too. I felt like I'd always known them. And... it sounds stupid... but I think... I think I did." She looked away.
Sirius didn't quite know what she meant, but was thinking about what she'd said, trying to piece it together. Her situation seemed familiar, but at the same time, completely absurd. Some one can't just pick up an instrument and be able to play it. Not a normal person, anyway. He thought it best not to say this, however.
"That's not stupid," he said quietly.
Another silence followed these words, and then:
"Yes it is. But sometimes I just think things like that because I cant ever remember much from...before," she said.
Sirius had no idea what this meant. He voiced his thoughts. "What do you mean?"
Fay sighed. "I mean... well I don't remember much of anything from my childhood. Just fleeting glimpses, you know. And I never felt like I belong to my parents. Sometimes I honestly think I got switched off with somebody else."
Sirius let out another sarcastic, dog-like bark of laughter. "I know exactly what you mean there. I'd swear to Merlin that I'm not my mother's son. Actually, I pray that I wasn't. I can't stand her."
For the first time, Sirius heard Fay laugh. It was a high, contagious, gleeful and full of mirth, causing him to smile and laugh again, only this time out of earnest rather than disdain. Fay wrapped her arms around her knees, and looked so like a child.
"You know," she said, turning to him. Her eyes were now an unmistakable light violet, and she was smiling impishly. "You're not that bad, really."
A/N- Okay, hope that was enough to hold you off for a few days. Just remember: READ AND REVIEW! Thanks! Oh! P.S.- what did you guys think about the movie Sirius? A mon avi, he wasn't right at all, not nearly hot enough, lol! Let me know in your reviews!