Disclaimer; I don't own any of the characters or settings involved with Harry potter and am not making any money off of this story.

Memories

Part 3: travel

It took Loretta three weeks to finally make her way to England. Rather than go by port key or broom, her guide had insisted that they go by muggle travel. Taking several detours and out of the way routes along the way. "To avoid suspicion" he'd said.

Loretta snorted and just threw her cloak down on the bed of her room at the small in they had stopped at for the night. She pulled out her wand and lit a fire in the fireplace before settling down to sit on her bed and pull off her thick leather shoes.

Rain fell in torrents outside, and she glared out her window as she pulled off her socks and tossed them to rest on the floor by the fireplace. The fire would dry them soon enough, she thought, and pulled off the thick coat she had worn under her cloak and tossed into a nearby chair before she closed her eyes and collapsed backwards onto her bed to let the softness of it lull her to sleep.

Outside the rain fell harder, and thoughts of other order travels and inn stays came to mind as she slowly began to drift off to sleep.

"Merlin's beard it's cold out here!"

Loretta just shivered more and let Sirius wrap an arm around her as he pushed open the door to the inn they had spotted on their way through a small village in the southern part of Scotland. They were on their way back to England, and rain had forced them to detour and stop for the night.

Loretta shook herself and wrung out the bottom half of her cloak as Sirius went hunting for the innkeeper to secure them lodging for the night.

Looking around, she spotted several witches and wizards in various stages of alcohol inducement sitting at the tables littering the room and spotted a fireplace in the corner that appeared to be lacking any attention from the inn's customers.

Quickly she walked over to it and raised her hands to warm them from the heat that the bright flames were emitting. After a while, she felt the warmth return to her fingers and it was just making its way to her shoulders and arms when Sirius came walking toward her with a frown in his brow and grim line set between his lips. "What's wrong?" she asked, as he quickly grabbed her arm and led her to the in keeper to retrieve a key before pulling her up the stairs.

"Nothing. But if anybody asks, we're married," Sirius said, counting off the numbers on the doors and putting the key in the appropriate one before turning it and pushing her inside.

"Okay," Loretta said without question, knowing he had a reason to say this (it had actually happened before), as he walked in after her and shut the door quickly before locking it.

Sirius quickly lit a fire in the fireplace and peeled off his wet cloak and coat before turning to the table and depositing several small looking packages on it that he had had stashed in his pockets. Loretta watched him do this and turned to the fire so she could begin to start warming herself up again.

"Was there anybody in the inn you recognized?" Sirius asked, coming up behind her and pulling her cloak off her shoulders as small drops of water dripped from her hair and down to the floor where they began to create a small puddle.

Loretta shook her head and shrugged her shoulders forward as Sirius peeled her sopping coat from her body. He tossed it on the table resting by the doorway so it could dry and turned back to the fire to warm his hands up as well.

"Just a bunch of witches getting drunk and several wizards on their way there."

Sirius just nodded and began to unbutton his shirt as Loretta rubbed her palms together and encouraged warmth into them as she stepped just a bit closer to the fire. She turned to Sirius to ask him a question and stopped before the words even left her mouth as the sight of a sopping wet Sirius throwing his shirt on a nearby chair met her eyes.

She stared for a few moments more before he finally noticed her gaze and looked at her confusingly. "What?"

Loretta just shook her head and moved towards the bed so she could sit down and remove her shoes and socks. Like every other part of her, they were soaking wet and needed to dry off.

"Something wrong?" Sirius asked, walking around the bed to squat in front f her and help her with her shoes.

"No," Loretta said, a hitch forming in her voice as Sirius pulled her sock off her foot and began rubbing it to give it some warmth.

Sirius just shrugged and rubbed her feet more as she shivered from both the cold and other things.

As Sirius's hands made their way up to her ankle, realization of what she was really thinking of finally hit her and she jerked her foot out of his grasp and folded her legs underneath her after she scooted up farther in the bed, closer to the head board so that she could lean against it. Hastily, she tucked an escaped strand of hair behind her ear and said, "M-maybe we should get some sleep. We have to start off again in the morning."

Sirius just looked at her oddly before nodding slowly and moving to make sure that all the windows were securely closed, and that the curtains kept all the fire's light from escaping out.

Loretta just watched him do this and sighed before turning her back to him and unbuttoning her shirt so she could pull it off and let it dry.

"Loretta."

"Hm?" Loretta turned around to ask Sirius what he wanted before she was surprised with a set of warm lips pressing themselves against her own. Fire raced from Sirius's body to hers, and Loretta was too surprised to protest as Sirius leaned back for air and returned to kiss her again with twice as much passion as before.

Loretta sighed and let Sirius tilt her back on the bed before he began to trail kisses on her neck and shoulder as he peeled her shirt from her wet skin. No words were spoken, and none were needed as Loretta and Sirius gave into feelings of warmth and desire to help heat up their cool and wet bodies.

"Miss! It's time to go!"

Loretta woke up with a start. She had fallen asleep in her clothes, and there was a loud knocking on her door as she looked around for her shoes and socks. She stood up to grab them and pull them on as her traveling companion called out for her to be ready in ten minutes. She replied an acknowledgement with thanks and all thoughts of Sirius and rain cold nights left her brain as thoughts of travel and order business filled her sleepy, weary brain.

A/N: I feel the need to clarify some things. This story does not take place after book five. It is taking place during book five. I'm sorry if there was any confusion about this. Sirius has not come back. Sorry. Also, I happen to like the name Loretta, so I'm keeping it the way it is. Thanks for reading. Feel free to review!