Chapter 21
a/n: finally, I know...well, from here on, I really don't know how regularly I can update, because I just moved, I have my computer, but I don't have the internet...and then I'm starting classes soon, and I might be working...so I don't know how busy that'll keep me...nonetheless I'll try to post at least once a week (watch it be more often than that though... :P ) anyway just wanted to give a heads up...enjoy the chaper...just a warning, I (unintentionally) wrote it w/ a bit too much fluff (at least for my taste anyway...) I'd say it's fluffier than cotton candy...but hope u like it anyway! Anywhos...go on and read, whilst I finish outlining chapter 22 (I'm excited about this one, yipee!)
Chapter 21: Three's Company Too
"Good morning, love" Sirius said to Dominique as she came down the stairs into the Gryffindor common room the following morning. She in turn, smiled and planted a kiss on his lips before replying "good morning".
"So, shall we go then?" he asked, taking her hand.
"Er, actually Sirus..."-
Just then James joined them and looked anxiously at Dominique. "Ready?" he asked. Sirius glanced questioningly at Dominique, then to James, before asking, "Ready for what?"
"Uh, Sirius," Dominique began again, "I wanted to ask if we could possibly cancel our plans for today...see, James needs my help..."
"Doing what?"
"Well...he's got that date with Lily, and he asked me if I could tell him how to act on his date..." Dominique replied.
"So, she had this idea, well, she kind of got it from me," James added with a grin, "Er, well, ok anyway," he said as Dominique rolled her eyes, "she had this idea, that she could feed me the right things to say, by just being with me on the date"-
"And Lily is...ok with this?" Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow. "Well...she doesn't know...and she won't know...here's the idea...I'm gonna put a shrinking spell on Dominique, so she's small enough to fit in my ear! So she can tell me what to say, without Lily hearing!!" James said excitedly.
"James, you did remember to clean your ears out thoroughly, right? I'm not going to be sitting in there with a stench..." Dominique interjected.
"Wait wait wait..." Sirius exclaimed, holding his hands up at James and Dominique. "Let me get this straight...you're gonna...shrink down to this size," he said, holding his thumb and index finger about a centimeter apart, "and you're gonna sit in James's ear...and tell him what to say to Lily??"
Dominique and James nodded.
"That's bizarre.." he said.
"What?? Why?? It'll work!!" James exclaimed.
"Why exactly do you need her to do this? Can't you just talk to Lily yourself?" Sirius asked.
"Padfoot..I've done that since...3rd year...and look how long it's taken me to get on a date with her..." James said.
"Fair point...ok, so...how long will you guys be?" Sirius asked, turning to Dominique.
"No idea..." Dominique said.
"Whole day, probably" James said at once. "The whole day??" Sirius exclaimed, "What about me??" "Er...what about you?" asked James.
"Well, I was kind of hoping I could spend some time with my girlfriend..." he replied dryly.
"Sirius, come on! This is my one shot with Lily! I can't ruin this! Please...you understand, don't you??"
Sirius sighed. "Fine..."
"I'll make it up to you, I promise..." Dominique said, looking at Sirius anxiously. "Yea, ok...don't worry about it...I'll just...I dunno, I'll find something to do..." he said as he stalked away.
"He's still mad..." Dominique said to James.
James only shrugged in return. "He's moody like that...don't worry, he'll get over it soon enough...hey, Lily's coming downstairs, come on let's go out in the hall and shrink you!" he said quickly, grabbing Dominique by the wrist and dragging her out in the hall.
"Now remember...don't talk too loud..." James muttered quietly as he walked around outside looking for Lily. "Aside from the fact she'll hear, you'll hurt my ear..."
"Got it..." Dominique said quietly, as she pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket and laid it across the floor of James's ear. 'I thought he said he cleaned his ear...' she thought as she sat on top of her handkerchief. 'Ugh, it smells in here'
"Lily!" she heard James shout. Dominique had to grab onto one of James's hairs to keep from falling out as he ran to greet her.
"James! Hey!" Lily said brightly.
"Smile and take her hand..." Dominique whispered, "ask where she wants to go first..."
"Well, where would you like to go first?" James asked, smiling and taking Lily's hand. Lily in return blushed and smiled back. "Er...I dunno...how about Ginerva's Gifts, Gadgets and Galore....? I've got to do some Christmas shopping...still need to get presents for the girls..."
"Sure!" James replied.
"Tell her she looks beautiful..."
"By the way Lily, you look absolutely beautiful..." James said.
"Oh, thanks...this is Dominique's shirt actually...kinda stole it from her..."
"What???" Dominique hissed.
"What??" James shouted. "I mean...uh...you...you stole something?? Lily Evans?? A thief?? It's not very becoming of you!"
Lily giggled.
"Nice save..." Dominique whispered, rolling her eyes.
"Ah well, she never would've missed it...she's got so many clothes as it is..." Lily said. "Alright, here we are..."
Dominique heard a door opening, and people shuffling inside. After several minutes, Lily finally spoke again.
"Hmm...a remembrall...I think I should get this for Kierra...I remember she said once that she needed one...well, I already got Alice's gift...I just need something for Dominique..."
"Oooh...the handbag in the window, the handbag in the window!!" Dominique hissed.
"Er...how about that handbag in the window?" James said. "I er...like the colors..." he added quickly. Lily grinned as she went to get the purse. "You're absolutely right! She would love it! You know," she said, turning to face James, "I'm surprised at you..."
"Er, what do you mean?" James asked nervously, tugging at his shirt collar.
"You seem to show good taste in fashion...and you're not at all bored shopping with me...I thought guys hated shopping...and you..well, I thought you were all about quidditch, and nothing else...sorry to have judged you like that..." she said, smiling shyly.
"Oh, don't worry about it..." James said, smiling back. "Oy, Peter! Sirius! What's up mates?" James called at his friends who had just entered the shop.
"Sirius, where's Dominique? I thought you two were hanging out?" Lily asked.
"Oh...she had other plans..." Sirius said in a cold, loud voice, glancing at James. He in return, paused, as Dominique whispered something inside his head.
"She wanted to buy Christmas presents, Padfoot..." James said, "and...I ran into her earlier...in the castle...and she, uh, told me to tell you that she'll meet you later on..."
"Really? When?" Sirius asked with mild interest.
"Er...3 o'clock..." "alright...where?"
"Er...Hogshead..."
"Alright...well, Wormtail and I will be moving along then..we'll see you guys later." Sirius said as he and Peter stalked off.
"Ok, I'm just gonna pay for these and we can head out." Lily said as she headed to the cashier.
"Sure thing...I'm just gonna look around a little while I wait..." James said as he headed to a table near the door.
"So..how am I doing?" James whispered.
"Pretty good...ok, it's nearly 12 so I think you all should head for lunch...you should go to Madam Pudifoot's...it's really romantic...it'll encourage the mood..and she likes that place.." Dominique said.
"Ok sounds good"
"Oh, and you're gonna be passing the Quidditch supplies shop...fight the urge, and just ignore it...do NOT go in..don't even look in the window, ok?" Dominique warned.
"What? Why not?? Oh come on..."
"No James! Anyway, she'll be impressed that you're ignoring Quidditch for her..."
"Oh that's right...ok...I'll try..."
"You'll try what??" cama a voice behind James. It was Lily, and she was holding her purchased in a red shopping bag. "Why were you mumbling to yourself?"
"Oh...I...um...I was thinking about where we should go for lunch...I was thinking out loud...maybe we should try Madam Pudifoot's? Do you like that place?"
"Oh, I love that place!" Lily exclaimed happily. "I've only been there once..."
"Why not more often?" James asked.
"Well..." Lily could feel herself blush. "It's a romantic sort of restaurant...you don't go there by yourself, or with friends...it's pretty much couples there...so I only went once, when I was on a date..."
"With who??" James asked quickly.
"Calm down, James...stay cool!!"
"I mean...really? With who?" James asked again, more coolly. Lily smiled. "Oh...you know Fred Emerson, in Ravenclaw? With him...back when we were in 5th year..."
"Oh yea...I remember him..." James said.
"Remember him? You make it sound as if he's gone or something...he still goes here!" Lily replied.
"Oh...no I mean, I remember when you went out with him..."
"Oh, I see...well, here we are..."
"Open the door for her..."
"Thanks..." Lily said as James held the door open for her. Moments later, Dominique heard someone ushering them to a table.
"Here is your table sir..." she heard a man's voice say.
"pull out her chair for her..."
"Thanks...James, you're being such a gentleman, you're kind of scaring me!" Lily said with a laugh.
James laughed as well. "You're not the only one who's scared...well, let's go ahead and order..."
At the mention of food, Dominique's stomach began to rumble.
"Any chance you could stick some food in your ear, for me?" Dominique whispered. "I don't think so...' James mumbled.
"What's that?" Lily asked, looking up from her menu.
"Oh...I don't think I'm going to have the soup..." James said quickly.
"Are you two ready to order?" Dominique heard the waiter ask.
"Oh...I don't know...I'm torn between the chicken salad and the soup..." Lily said.
"Tell the waiter that she'll have both..."
"She'll have both, sir" James said, "and I'll have the linguine...." "James, I can't eat that much!" Lily exclaimed.
"Tell her you'll share it..."
"We can share it then...and could I have some water please?" James asked.
"Me too" Lily said.
"No problem..." The waiter replied, collecting the menus. Minutes later he reappeared with two glasses of cold water.
Lily took a nervous sip of water and concentrated hard on her glass. She had never seen this side of James before. She had always known that underneath his immature, boyish act, he would be a nice guy...but not this nice...
"Make some conversation!!" Dominique hissed. "compliment her!!"
"Er...Lily...you...you've got beautiful eyes..."
"Ooh..ok..." Dominique whispered excitedly, "they're greener than grass...in spring..."
"They're greener than grass, in spring.." James repeated.
"And...brighter than the moon..."
"And they're brighter than the moon..." James murmured.
"Oh...James..." Lily said quietly. Dominique did not have to see Lily's face to know that she was blushing furiously. Not knowing what to say to such flattery, Lily just took another sip of water.
James made to do the same, but just as he reached for his glass, he felt a sneeze coming on. Not wanting to get anything on Lily, James turned his head away from the table and sneezed loudly. He immediately regretted it when he heard a small splash.
James turned around as Lily shrieked and pointed at James's glass. Dominique swam afloat in James's glass, sputtering and looking up at Lily's terrified face.
"Hey Lily!!" She said cheerily. "What's up??"
"Dominique, what on earth are you doing here???" Lily exclaimed, pulling the tiny Dominique out of the glass of water and setting her on the table.
"Uh...well...you see..."
"This is all my fault.." James cut in. "I was nervous about our date...and asked for Dominique's help...to make it a perfect date...and so...I shrunk her and stuck her in my ear...so she could tell me what to say and how to act during the date...I'm sorry...I just wanted this to be perfect and I was afraid I'd mess it up..."
James watched Lily nervously. Instead of slapping him and storming off as he had expected, she grinned. "Wow..." her grin turned into a laugh. "I can't believe you went to such lengths....just to please me...and I can't believe you..." she continued, turning to Dominique and laughing hysterically, "sitting in his ear? That's disgusting!"
"Well, I wanted it to work out too!!" Dominique protested. "Listen, someone unshrink me so I can leave you two alone...clearly my work here is done..."
"Right..." James said, pulling out his wand. With a wave, Dominique immediately regrew to her normal 5 feet 4 inches. (A/N: sorry you non-Americans out there, not my fault we're stuck on the English system!!) "Well, I better find Sirius...probably still fuming..." Dominique said. "You kids enjoy yourselves...and be nice to him, Lily!!" she added with a wink to her friend, who grinned in return.
"Er, waiter, could I get another glass of water here, I think a bug got in mine..." Dominique could hear James say as she left the restaurant.
Across the room, in a quiet little corner, Remus and Kierra watched the James/Lily/Dominique debacle with much amusement. Even ten minutes after Dominique had left and Lily and James were quietly enjoying their lunch date, Remus and Kierra couldn't help but laugh over it. "I can't believe she sat in his ear....that's disgusting..." Kierra laughed with a look of revulsion on her face.
"I can't believe Lily didn't smack James...or let Dominique drown in the glass of water..." Remus laughed. "Well...that is pretty sweet though...stupid as their idea was...it was sweet nonetheless...trying to impress her..." Kierra replied.
"Yea, that's true...perhaps that's what Lily reasoned..."
"Well, I'm glad they're getting along now...poor James has been after her for ages..." Kierra said as she took a spoonful of her soup. "Yes, that's true..." Remus replied. After several moments of silence, he spoke up again. "I can't wait until new years eve...my parents are going to love you..."
"Do you think so?" Kierra asked, looking up at Remus nervously. "Of course they will...how could anyone not love you?"
Kierra smiled shyly. "This is going to be my first time meeting the parents of my boyfriend..."
"You'll be fine, don't worry..." he said. "Well, as long as you're there...and since Sirius and Dominique will be there too...I guess I shouldn't be nearly as frightened...is there anything I should know about your parents? I mean...any pet peeves or something...subjects that I shouldn't touch on...?" Kierra asked.
"Oh...well...let's see...my dad's pretty quiet and reserved...he's really intellectual though...so...I dunno...look at his library and see if anything interests you...strike up a conversation about that with him..my mum...hmm...oh, she absolutely hates swearing of any sort, so watch your mouth in front of her...I can't think of any other precautions for you..." he said. "But don't worry...just be yourself...you'll be fine..."
"Maybe you can come visit me instead?" Kierra asked. "My parents won't scrutinize you at all! Anyway they already know I liked you, because Lily let it slip last summer when she came to visit me...they'll be so happy to know we've gotten together..."
Remus laughed. "I'd love to meet them...really...but my parents would never forgive me if I left them during the holidays...they always want me to stay at home when we've got a break...I don't think they'd let me go...and don't worry, my parents won't scrutinize you! They're humans, Kierra...they're not mean monsters!!" he said with a grin. "Ok...sorry...I didn't mean that"-
"I know, I know, I'm just teasing you..." Remus replied. "Come on, let's hurry up, I want to get us ice cream from down the street before we have to head back to the castle..."
Dominique walked into Zonko's joke shop, nearly slipping as she came in. As she passed by each aisle, students and shoppers looked at her questioningly. She was soaked to the bone, and tired, having looked over the entire village for Sirius. If only she were dry.
'Oh that's right..I'm a witch...' Dominique thought stupidly, as she pulled out her wand. "Why are you all wet? And why aren't you on your date with James and Lily?" came a voice behind her. Dominique wheeled around to find Sirius, looking at her with the same confused look as everyone else in the shop.
"Long story..." she said as she dried herself with a wave of her wand.
"I've got time" he replied as he led her out of the store.
"I'm tired, and hungry...first let's take care of that..."
"Alright..." he said as he pulled her inside the Three Broomsticks and ordered her a butterbeer and sandwich. "So...what happened?"
"Well," she said as she took a sip from her butterbeer, "James sneezed and I fell into his glass of water...so that's why I'm wet...that's also why I'm not on the date anymore...Lily saw"-
"Did she go ballistic?" Sirius asked. "No, quite the contrary...she actually thought it was funny..."
"I see...so now you're free to spend the rest of your day with me?" he asked casually.
"Yep...that is, if you want to anyway..." Dominique replied, glancing briefly at Sirius, knowing he was still annoyed that she ditched him.
"Yea, I guess we could..."
"You guess? Well...if you don't want to"-
"I never said I didn't want to..." Sirius replied curtly. "Well, if you're indifferent about it"-
"I never said I was"-
"You're implying it!" Dominique said, raising her voice slightly as she stood up and turned to leave.
"Where are you going?" Sirius asked, tossing a few galleons on their now abandoned table and following Dominique out.
"Back to the castle..."
"Because..."
"You're acting like an immature little asshole, Sirius"
"Well, excuse me for wanting to spend some time with my girlfriend!!"
"We spend plenty of time together!!! What's the big deal if I cancel plans with you once, to help some friends out? Are you going to act like such a baby every time I cancel plans with you??"
"First of all, I am NOT acting like a baby...secondly, do you plan on cancelling plans with me every Hogsmead trip now??"
"I never said that!! Quit putting words in my mouth!" Dominique exclaimed as they walked into the castle and headed to the great hall. "I'm just saying if I cancelled plans again in the future, are you gonna act all whiny about it??"
"No! And I'm not whinning!! Don't accuse me of that!!"
"Then quit shouting!!" Dominique retorted as they entered the great hall.
"Don't take that tone with me!!"
"I'll talk to you however I damn well please!" Dominique said. She and Sirius stopped suddenly when they realized there were some people behind them. They turned around, only to see Dumbledore walking with Professor McGonagall, both whom were watching them with surprise. Dumbledore narrowed his eyes slightly at the two, as if to give them a warning look, before he continued on with McGonagall.
"As I was saying, Minerva," Dumbledore said, stalking past the bickering couple as if he had heard nothing, "The Chudley Canons have absolutely no chance at all making it to the cup..."
Dominique turned back angrily to face Sirius, who looked somewhat softened now.
"Look, I'm just mad because I had planned a nice romantic day for us, that's all..."
"Oh..." Dominique felt a bit stupid now. "Why didn't you say something before?"
"Well...James looked all nervous this morning...but excited that you were going to help him...I didn't want to spoil it for him..."
"What did you have planned?" Dominique asked as they sat down at the Gryffindor table, which were only holding 1st and 2nd years at the moment. "Well...I got you a rose..." he said, pulling a long stemmed red rose from inside his cloak, and handing it to her. "Then I thought we'd take a nice long walk in the park...it's really pretty in the winter time...they decorate it with fairy lights...after that I wanted to take you to Godric's cafe...where we had our first date...I sent an owl to the manager yesterday, asking them to play 'so this is love',"-
"that was our first dance..."
"and you were singing along with it..."
"you remembered?"
"of course...how could I not?"
"Oh Sirius..." Dominique said quietly, "I'm sorry I messed this up..."
"No, it's ok...we'll do it some other time. Sorry I blew up at you..."
"No, I'm sorry"-
"Hey guys!!" James shouted as he entered the Great Hall arm in arm with Lily. They were both pink from glee, or perhaps from the cold, but either way, they looked rather happy. "I take it you guys had a good time then?" Sirius asked as they sat down.
"Wonderful time, Padfoot old boy..." James replied cheerily. "I'm famished...wish this feast would begin!"
Lily rolled her eyes, but smiled. "You just had a whole sundae 10 minutes ago!"
"It was pretty small"-
"And you ate my soup too"-
"Correction, I finished it for you! You told me to!"
Lily laughed. "I'm not blaming you...I'm just commenting on all the food you ate..and the surprise at seeing you have room for more!"
"He's got an endless pit for a stomach, as I've said before..." came a voice behind them. "Moony!!" James grinned. "Did you guys have fun on your little date?" he asked, grinning at Remus and Kierra.
"Oh yes, quite. Especially watching you and Lily on your date...and seeing Dominique flying out of your ear..." he said as he and Kierra fell into laughter.
"Oh shut up!!" Dominique exclaimed, though she couldn't help but smile as well. "You were at Madam Pudifoot's too? Why didn't you talk to us then?" Lily asked, glancing at Kierra.
"Oh, we didn't want to interrupt you guys...especially when you two were swapping spit..." Kierra replied.
At this, James and Lily turned red, while the others broke into laughter.
"Never would've thought I'd live to see the day..." Sirius said. "I get to be best man at the wedding, I dibs it!"
Lily cleared her throat as food materialized on their plates. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves now..." she said sternly, as they began to eat.
"Hey, Dominique, thanks for helping me out." James said during dinner. "Oh, I hardly helped...I was there for like an hour..."
"Yes, but still, you gave me...I dunno, confidence I guess..."
"As if you ever lacked that..."
James chuckled. "Well, I never had much confidence around Lily," he said, throwing a glance at his new girlfriend, who was chatting with Kierra. "And by the time you left, I had a good idea of how to act around her...and now I'm completely comfortable with being a nice guy...gentleman sort of person..."
Dominique laughed. "But you already were a nice guy, gentleman sort of person..."
James grinned. "If I was, I did a good job at hiding it...anyway, thanks again..."
"No problem..."
"If there's anything you ever need from me...any way I can repay you...just name it."
Dominique paused for a moment and glanced at Sirius, who was talking to Remus about his plans to visit him over winter break. "Actually...there is...I hear you have an invisibility cloak..."
"Where'd you hear that?" James asked quietly.
"No need to hide it, they all know about it," Dominique said, indicating at Lily and Alice. "When Remus transformed...that whole incident with Kierra...she saw you guys with the cloak...she told us about it later..."
"Oh...ok...what about it?"
"Well...I was wondering, if maybe I could borrow it tonight?"
"Er...what for? If you don't mind me asking..."
"Well...it turns out that Sirius had all these great plans for us today, and he was upset that I cancelled on him...to go with you and Lily...so I wanted to make it up to him somehow..."
"So what do you need the cloak for?" he asked, looking at her suspiciously.
Dominique rolled her eyes. "I just wanted it so we could sneak out...good gosh, I wasn't planning on shagging him in it, if that's what you're worried about'
James sighed. "Oh ok...that's fine then. You can use it."
"Excellent...Can I get it from you after dinner?"
"Sure."
'Thanks James, you're the best!" she said with a smile, as James blushed.
Sirius sat with James, Peter and Remus in the Gryffindor common room, watching James and Remus play a game of chess. Clever of a wizard as James was, Remus was simply superb at chess. They were now on their fourth round. Starting off as just one game, it went to best of three games, to best of seven; as James kept losing, and insisted to Lily that he could beat Remus. Sirius could not help but be amused at the scene. James, determined to win another game, had beads of sweat forming around his face, and his eyes widened with anxiety at every move Remus made. The latter on the other hand, looked calm, almost serene, as he made each of his moves. Kierra, his personal cheerleader, also watched avidly, and seemed very much to appreciate Remus's genius.
"You are so sexy when you play..." she murmured.
"You do know you said that out loud, Kierra?" Lily asked, grinning.
"It's true though!!" Kierra protested.
"that's fine, just keep it to yourself though!" Alice chimed in, who was also watching the chess game. "Geez, you think anyone wants to know about your fetishes, aside from Remus?"
To this, Remus smiled, trying to supress a laugh. "I won't even comment," he muttered, "but we're gonna have to have a little chat, Kierra, that's all I'm going to say..."
"Meet me outside the portrait hole, now..." a whisper came from behind Sirius. He turned around, but no one was there. It sounded like Dominique's voice. He looked towards the door, and to his surprise, it quietly opened, and then closed, as if on its own accord. Sirius slowly got up and made to follow, when suddenly Peter stopped him.
"Where are you going, Padfoot?" Peter asked.
"Eh...I'm fancying a little walk..." he replied, as he continued walkking.
"But it's after hours!"
"So? It's not like anyone'll catch me..." he replied coolly, as he left the common room. Just as he stepped out into the hallway, he felt someone grab him around the waist.
"Caught ya..." Sirius wheeled around and found Dominique, grinning at him, with James's invisibility cloak in her arm.
"He let you borrow it?"
"Yea...he owed me one after all...anyway, come on, I've got plans for us..." she said, pulling the cloak over themselves. "Er, where are we going? And...what's with the blanket?" he asked, pointing to the folded blanket tucked away in Dominique's cloak. "Well...I felt bad about today...I just wanted to make it up to you...we're going outside..."
"You know how cold it is at night time around here?"
"We'll light a fire..."
"Ok..." and with that, Sirius and Dominique walked in silence the rest of the way. When they finally got outside, they pulled the cloak off and rested it on the cold ground. "So...what are we doing here?" Sirius finally asked. Dominique turned around and whistled, beckoning several short creatures....house elves. There were three of them, and they each hand their arms full. As Dominique spread the blanket on the ground, the house elves, arranged small platters of food on it. Minutes later, another house elf came scurrying outside, with several long candles in hand. "A thousand apologies for being late, ma'am," he said to Dominique, as he set the candles in the middle of the blanket and lit them. "That's alright..and thank you very much, all of you." Dominique replied, smiling at the elves.
"Call us if you need anything else," a female house elf said, bowing.
"Of course. Thanks again, you all can go now." Dominique replied. As the elves left, Sirius gaped at Dominique, who smiled in return. "Call it a midnight candlelight...only I suppose it's an hour early..." she said as she glanced at her watch. "No matter...well, sit down!" she said. "Oh wait...the ground is freezing...hold on.." she pulled out her wand and muttered a charm, pointing her wand at the earth below them. Immediately the ground all around them began to warm up. "There," she said, tucking her wand away, "that should last a few hours..."
"You didn't have to do this..." Sirius said as he sat down with Dominique.
"Well, I wanted to..." she replied.
"You're about the best girlfriend a guy could ever ask for, you know that?" he said after a while, as he poured himself some hot chocolate. "Giving a guy food...it's nearly as good as making love to him..."
Dominique grinned. "I have something else for you..." she said, getting up. "I had planned for us to do this after we ate...but I figured we should go for it now, before the coldness reached our on, get up!" she said, pulling Sirius up. "Wow, all these surprises...I feel so special..." he said with a sly smile. "I don't mean to excite your anticipations...it's not that great..." she said as she took his hands and placed them around her waist, and placing her own around his neck. As she did so she began to hum a tune that was all too familiar to Sirius, who smiled at hearing it.
"So this is love..." she sung quietly, "So this...is what makes life divine.
"My heart has wings...mmm...and I can fly.
I'll touch every star in the sky...." They danced around unhurriedly to the slow rhythm.
"so this is the miracle that I've been dreaming of.
So this is love..."
(A/N: It's from Cinderella, the old disney one...lol I'm such a dork...)
Sirius smiled with content as Dominique finished singing. "You remembered" he said.
"No, you did. You reminded me..." she replied. "Same difference..." he answered, no longer remembering, nor caring about what they were discussing. He pulled her back to the ground, which was still warm, and pulled her onto his lap to cradle her. Dominique however was glancing up at the sky. "Beautiful…" she murmured, pointing at the night sky, which was glimmering with stars. Dominique pulled herself off of Sirius's lap and lay down on the earth, pulling Sirius down, nudging him to do the same. "When I was little," she said quietly, still staring at the sky, "I'd go camping with Remus's family sometimes…his mum was really into it and so they went a lot…anyway, every time I went with them, at night, they'd just lay there in the dark, staring at the sky, watching the stars…his dad's really into astronomy you know…he'd show us all the constellations…We'd lay there for hours…" "Not surprised," Sirius replied, gazing at the endless darkness above them, "It's absolutely beautiful out here…I think I could lay here for hours too…" "You see those set of stars up there?" Dominique asked, pointing up slightly south of where they lay. "Er, which ones exactly?" Sirius asked, not sure which of the millions of stars he was supposed to be focusing on.
"These…" Dominqiue said, wrapping her hand over his, she traced several stars out in the sky. "Look what shape it makes…" "Looks kind of like a dog…" "Yea…I remember Mr. Lupin telling us that was called Sirius…" "Really?" "Yea…isn't that weird…I mean, not that you bear the name of a star…but the fact that it's a dog…and when you're an animagus you turn into a dog…anyway…I remembered that when I first met you…when you told me your name was Sirius…I really like your name…it sounds almost regal…"
Sirius didn't reply at first. Regality was exactly why he bore that name. It sounded that way to his mum anyway, so she gave him the name. After all, they were Blacks, they were royalty since they were pureblood, hence, they all had to sound royal.
"Thanks…" he said finally.
Dominique pulled herself up slightly to look at him. "Are you ok?" she asked. "Huh? Yea…I'm fine…" "You don't sound like it…what's wrong?" "Well…it's just that…my mum had the same idea as you"— "Oh, Sirius! I didn't mean to sound like you mum"— "No it's ok…I know you didn't…it's not your fault…it's just who I am…I'm a Black, I've got a royal-sounding, Black name…I've just got to get used to it…" he said, putting a venomous emphasis on the word 'Black'.
"Sirius," Dominique said, sitting up now, "who cares if your last name is Black? That doesn't mean anything! No one cares about who your family is! Anyone who does, isn't worth your time anyway…You don't even associate yourself with them…" "Listen, can we just not talk about this anymore?" Sirius said suddenly, as he pulled himself up as well. "I'm sorry…I just…hate thinking about my family, let alone talking about it…nothing personal against you…it's just my problem…They've made my life hell, you know, seventeen years….took me that long to gather enough sense to run away…" he muttered.
"I understand…" "No you don't," he said at once, as he stood up. "It's complicated…my family, my feelings, everything, I don't want to get into it…" "Ok…if you don't want to you don't have to…" Sirius sighed and looked at Dominique, who looked very pale now, either from his sudden outburst or from the cold, or perhaps both. "I'm sorry," he said in a softer voice. "I didn't mean"— "It's ok," Dominique said, smiling slightly at him, putting her hands in his own. "I know how it is to be confused…" Sirius paused for a moment to consider what she said, then it hit him, seemingly like a punch in the stomach. "I forgot that we're kind of on the same boat…" "Well…not entirely…but, we're in the same sea at least…" She replied, as she picked up James's invisibility cloak. "Come on, everyone's leaving tomorrow for holiday, we need to wake up early to say goodbye to them…" "Right…" Sirius said, as he helped Dominique wrap the cloak around themselves while the walked back to the castle.
a/n: finally, I know...well, from here on, I really don't know how regularly I can update, because I just moved, I have my computer, but I don't have the internet...and then I'm starting classes soon, and I might be working...so I don't know how busy that'll keep me...nonetheless I'll try to post at least once a week (watch it be more often than that though... :P ) anyway just wanted to give a heads up...enjoy the chaper...just a warning, I (unintentionally) wrote it w/ a bit too much fluff (at least for my taste anyway...) I'd say it's fluffier than cotton candy...but hope u like it anyway! Anywhos...go on and read, whilst I finish outlining chapter 22 (I'm excited about this one, yipee!)
Chapter 21: Three's Company Too
"Good morning, love" Sirius said to Dominique as she came down the stairs into the Gryffindor common room the following morning. She in turn, smiled and planted a kiss on his lips before replying "good morning".
"So, shall we go then?" he asked, taking her hand.
"Er, actually Sirus..."-
Just then James joined them and looked anxiously at Dominique. "Ready?" he asked. Sirius glanced questioningly at Dominique, then to James, before asking, "Ready for what?"
"Uh, Sirius," Dominique began again, "I wanted to ask if we could possibly cancel our plans for today...see, James needs my help..."
"Doing what?"
"Well...he's got that date with Lily, and he asked me if I could tell him how to act on his date..." Dominique replied.
"So, she had this idea, well, she kind of got it from me," James added with a grin, "Er, well, ok anyway," he said as Dominique rolled her eyes, "she had this idea, that she could feed me the right things to say, by just being with me on the date"-
"And Lily is...ok with this?" Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow. "Well...she doesn't know...and she won't know...here's the idea...I'm gonna put a shrinking spell on Dominique, so she's small enough to fit in my ear! So she can tell me what to say, without Lily hearing!!" James said excitedly.
"James, you did remember to clean your ears out thoroughly, right? I'm not going to be sitting in there with a stench..." Dominique interjected.
"Wait wait wait..." Sirius exclaimed, holding his hands up at James and Dominique. "Let me get this straight...you're gonna...shrink down to this size," he said, holding his thumb and index finger about a centimeter apart, "and you're gonna sit in James's ear...and tell him what to say to Lily??"
Dominique and James nodded.
"That's bizarre.." he said.
"What?? Why?? It'll work!!" James exclaimed.
"Why exactly do you need her to do this? Can't you just talk to Lily yourself?" Sirius asked.
"Padfoot..I've done that since...3rd year...and look how long it's taken me to get on a date with her..." James said.
"Fair point...ok, so...how long will you guys be?" Sirius asked, turning to Dominique.
"No idea..." Dominique said.
"Whole day, probably" James said at once. "The whole day??" Sirius exclaimed, "What about me??" "Er...what about you?" asked James.
"Well, I was kind of hoping I could spend some time with my girlfriend..." he replied dryly.
"Sirius, come on! This is my one shot with Lily! I can't ruin this! Please...you understand, don't you??"
Sirius sighed. "Fine..."
"I'll make it up to you, I promise..." Dominique said, looking at Sirius anxiously. "Yea, ok...don't worry about it...I'll just...I dunno, I'll find something to do..." he said as he stalked away.
"He's still mad..." Dominique said to James.
James only shrugged in return. "He's moody like that...don't worry, he'll get over it soon enough...hey, Lily's coming downstairs, come on let's go out in the hall and shrink you!" he said quickly, grabbing Dominique by the wrist and dragging her out in the hall.
"Now remember...don't talk too loud..." James muttered quietly as he walked around outside looking for Lily. "Aside from the fact she'll hear, you'll hurt my ear..."
"Got it..." Dominique said quietly, as she pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket and laid it across the floor of James's ear. 'I thought he said he cleaned his ear...' she thought as she sat on top of her handkerchief. 'Ugh, it smells in here'
"Lily!" she heard James shout. Dominique had to grab onto one of James's hairs to keep from falling out as he ran to greet her.
"James! Hey!" Lily said brightly.
"Smile and take her hand..." Dominique whispered, "ask where she wants to go first..."
"Well, where would you like to go first?" James asked, smiling and taking Lily's hand. Lily in return blushed and smiled back. "Er...I dunno...how about Ginerva's Gifts, Gadgets and Galore....? I've got to do some Christmas shopping...still need to get presents for the girls..."
"Sure!" James replied.
"Tell her she looks beautiful..."
"By the way Lily, you look absolutely beautiful..." James said.
"Oh, thanks...this is Dominique's shirt actually...kinda stole it from her..."
"What???" Dominique hissed.
"What??" James shouted. "I mean...uh...you...you stole something?? Lily Evans?? A thief?? It's not very becoming of you!"
Lily giggled.
"Nice save..." Dominique whispered, rolling her eyes.
"Ah well, she never would've missed it...she's got so many clothes as it is..." Lily said. "Alright, here we are..."
Dominique heard a door opening, and people shuffling inside. After several minutes, Lily finally spoke again.
"Hmm...a remembrall...I think I should get this for Kierra...I remember she said once that she needed one...well, I already got Alice's gift...I just need something for Dominique..."
"Oooh...the handbag in the window, the handbag in the window!!" Dominique hissed.
"Er...how about that handbag in the window?" James said. "I er...like the colors..." he added quickly. Lily grinned as she went to get the purse. "You're absolutely right! She would love it! You know," she said, turning to face James, "I'm surprised at you..."
"Er, what do you mean?" James asked nervously, tugging at his shirt collar.
"You seem to show good taste in fashion...and you're not at all bored shopping with me...I thought guys hated shopping...and you..well, I thought you were all about quidditch, and nothing else...sorry to have judged you like that..." she said, smiling shyly.
"Oh, don't worry about it..." James said, smiling back. "Oy, Peter! Sirius! What's up mates?" James called at his friends who had just entered the shop.
"Sirius, where's Dominique? I thought you two were hanging out?" Lily asked.
"Oh...she had other plans..." Sirius said in a cold, loud voice, glancing at James. He in return, paused, as Dominique whispered something inside his head.
"She wanted to buy Christmas presents, Padfoot..." James said, "and...I ran into her earlier...in the castle...and she, uh, told me to tell you that she'll meet you later on..."
"Really? When?" Sirius asked with mild interest.
"Er...3 o'clock..." "alright...where?"
"Er...Hogshead..."
"Alright...well, Wormtail and I will be moving along then..we'll see you guys later." Sirius said as he and Peter stalked off.
"Ok, I'm just gonna pay for these and we can head out." Lily said as she headed to the cashier.
"Sure thing...I'm just gonna look around a little while I wait..." James said as he headed to a table near the door.
"So..how am I doing?" James whispered.
"Pretty good...ok, it's nearly 12 so I think you all should head for lunch...you should go to Madam Pudifoot's...it's really romantic...it'll encourage the mood..and she likes that place.." Dominique said.
"Ok sounds good"
"Oh, and you're gonna be passing the Quidditch supplies shop...fight the urge, and just ignore it...do NOT go in..don't even look in the window, ok?" Dominique warned.
"What? Why not?? Oh come on..."
"No James! Anyway, she'll be impressed that you're ignoring Quidditch for her..."
"Oh that's right...ok...I'll try..."
"You'll try what??" cama a voice behind James. It was Lily, and she was holding her purchased in a red shopping bag. "Why were you mumbling to yourself?"
"Oh...I...um...I was thinking about where we should go for lunch...I was thinking out loud...maybe we should try Madam Pudifoot's? Do you like that place?"
"Oh, I love that place!" Lily exclaimed happily. "I've only been there once..."
"Why not more often?" James asked.
"Well..." Lily could feel herself blush. "It's a romantic sort of restaurant...you don't go there by yourself, or with friends...it's pretty much couples there...so I only went once, when I was on a date..."
"With who??" James asked quickly.
"Calm down, James...stay cool!!"
"I mean...really? With who?" James asked again, more coolly. Lily smiled. "Oh...you know Fred Emerson, in Ravenclaw? With him...back when we were in 5th year..."
"Oh yea...I remember him..." James said.
"Remember him? You make it sound as if he's gone or something...he still goes here!" Lily replied.
"Oh...no I mean, I remember when you went out with him..."
"Oh, I see...well, here we are..."
"Open the door for her..."
"Thanks..." Lily said as James held the door open for her. Moments later, Dominique heard someone ushering them to a table.
"Here is your table sir..." she heard a man's voice say.
"pull out her chair for her..."
"Thanks...James, you're being such a gentleman, you're kind of scaring me!" Lily said with a laugh.
James laughed as well. "You're not the only one who's scared...well, let's go ahead and order..."
At the mention of food, Dominique's stomach began to rumble.
"Any chance you could stick some food in your ear, for me?" Dominique whispered. "I don't think so...' James mumbled.
"What's that?" Lily asked, looking up from her menu.
"Oh...I don't think I'm going to have the soup..." James said quickly.
"Are you two ready to order?" Dominique heard the waiter ask.
"Oh...I don't know...I'm torn between the chicken salad and the soup..." Lily said.
"Tell the waiter that she'll have both..."
"She'll have both, sir" James said, "and I'll have the linguine...." "James, I can't eat that much!" Lily exclaimed.
"Tell her you'll share it..."
"We can share it then...and could I have some water please?" James asked.
"Me too" Lily said.
"No problem..." The waiter replied, collecting the menus. Minutes later he reappeared with two glasses of cold water.
Lily took a nervous sip of water and concentrated hard on her glass. She had never seen this side of James before. She had always known that underneath his immature, boyish act, he would be a nice guy...but not this nice...
"Make some conversation!!" Dominique hissed. "compliment her!!"
"Er...Lily...you...you've got beautiful eyes..."
"Ooh..ok..." Dominique whispered excitedly, "they're greener than grass...in spring..."
"They're greener than grass, in spring.." James repeated.
"And...brighter than the moon..."
"And they're brighter than the moon..." James murmured.
"Oh...James..." Lily said quietly. Dominique did not have to see Lily's face to know that she was blushing furiously. Not knowing what to say to such flattery, Lily just took another sip of water.
James made to do the same, but just as he reached for his glass, he felt a sneeze coming on. Not wanting to get anything on Lily, James turned his head away from the table and sneezed loudly. He immediately regretted it when he heard a small splash.
James turned around as Lily shrieked and pointed at James's glass. Dominique swam afloat in James's glass, sputtering and looking up at Lily's terrified face.
"Hey Lily!!" She said cheerily. "What's up??"
"Dominique, what on earth are you doing here???" Lily exclaimed, pulling the tiny Dominique out of the glass of water and setting her on the table.
"Uh...well...you see..."
"This is all my fault.." James cut in. "I was nervous about our date...and asked for Dominique's help...to make it a perfect date...and so...I shrunk her and stuck her in my ear...so she could tell me what to say and how to act during the date...I'm sorry...I just wanted this to be perfect and I was afraid I'd mess it up..."
James watched Lily nervously. Instead of slapping him and storming off as he had expected, she grinned. "Wow..." her grin turned into a laugh. "I can't believe you went to such lengths....just to please me...and I can't believe you..." she continued, turning to Dominique and laughing hysterically, "sitting in his ear? That's disgusting!"
"Well, I wanted it to work out too!!" Dominique protested. "Listen, someone unshrink me so I can leave you two alone...clearly my work here is done..."
"Right..." James said, pulling out his wand. With a wave, Dominique immediately regrew to her normal 5 feet 4 inches. (A/N: sorry you non-Americans out there, not my fault we're stuck on the English system!!) "Well, I better find Sirius...probably still fuming..." Dominique said. "You kids enjoy yourselves...and be nice to him, Lily!!" she added with a wink to her friend, who grinned in return.
"Er, waiter, could I get another glass of water here, I think a bug got in mine..." Dominique could hear James say as she left the restaurant.
Across the room, in a quiet little corner, Remus and Kierra watched the James/Lily/Dominique debacle with much amusement. Even ten minutes after Dominique had left and Lily and James were quietly enjoying their lunch date, Remus and Kierra couldn't help but laugh over it. "I can't believe she sat in his ear....that's disgusting..." Kierra laughed with a look of revulsion on her face.
"I can't believe Lily didn't smack James...or let Dominique drown in the glass of water..." Remus laughed. "Well...that is pretty sweet though...stupid as their idea was...it was sweet nonetheless...trying to impress her..." Kierra replied.
"Yea, that's true...perhaps that's what Lily reasoned..."
"Well, I'm glad they're getting along now...poor James has been after her for ages..." Kierra said as she took a spoonful of her soup. "Yes, that's true..." Remus replied. After several moments of silence, he spoke up again. "I can't wait until new years eve...my parents are going to love you..."
"Do you think so?" Kierra asked, looking up at Remus nervously. "Of course they will...how could anyone not love you?"
Kierra smiled shyly. "This is going to be my first time meeting the parents of my boyfriend..."
"You'll be fine, don't worry..." he said. "Well, as long as you're there...and since Sirius and Dominique will be there too...I guess I shouldn't be nearly as frightened...is there anything I should know about your parents? I mean...any pet peeves or something...subjects that I shouldn't touch on...?" Kierra asked.
"Oh...well...let's see...my dad's pretty quiet and reserved...he's really intellectual though...so...I dunno...look at his library and see if anything interests you...strike up a conversation about that with him..my mum...hmm...oh, she absolutely hates swearing of any sort, so watch your mouth in front of her...I can't think of any other precautions for you..." he said. "But don't worry...just be yourself...you'll be fine..."
"Maybe you can come visit me instead?" Kierra asked. "My parents won't scrutinize you at all! Anyway they already know I liked you, because Lily let it slip last summer when she came to visit me...they'll be so happy to know we've gotten together..."
Remus laughed. "I'd love to meet them...really...but my parents would never forgive me if I left them during the holidays...they always want me to stay at home when we've got a break...I don't think they'd let me go...and don't worry, my parents won't scrutinize you! They're humans, Kierra...they're not mean monsters!!" he said with a grin. "Ok...sorry...I didn't mean that"-
"I know, I know, I'm just teasing you..." Remus replied. "Come on, let's hurry up, I want to get us ice cream from down the street before we have to head back to the castle..."
Dominique walked into Zonko's joke shop, nearly slipping as she came in. As she passed by each aisle, students and shoppers looked at her questioningly. She was soaked to the bone, and tired, having looked over the entire village for Sirius. If only she were dry.
'Oh that's right..I'm a witch...' Dominique thought stupidly, as she pulled out her wand. "Why are you all wet? And why aren't you on your date with James and Lily?" came a voice behind her. Dominique wheeled around to find Sirius, looking at her with the same confused look as everyone else in the shop.
"Long story..." she said as she dried herself with a wave of her wand.
"I've got time" he replied as he led her out of the store.
"I'm tired, and hungry...first let's take care of that..."
"Alright..." he said as he pulled her inside the Three Broomsticks and ordered her a butterbeer and sandwich. "So...what happened?"
"Well," she said as she took a sip from her butterbeer, "James sneezed and I fell into his glass of water...so that's why I'm wet...that's also why I'm not on the date anymore...Lily saw"-
"Did she go ballistic?" Sirius asked. "No, quite the contrary...she actually thought it was funny..."
"I see...so now you're free to spend the rest of your day with me?" he asked casually.
"Yep...that is, if you want to anyway..." Dominique replied, glancing briefly at Sirius, knowing he was still annoyed that she ditched him.
"Yea, I guess we could..."
"You guess? Well...if you don't want to"-
"I never said I didn't want to..." Sirius replied curtly. "Well, if you're indifferent about it"-
"I never said I was"-
"You're implying it!" Dominique said, raising her voice slightly as she stood up and turned to leave.
"Where are you going?" Sirius asked, tossing a few galleons on their now abandoned table and following Dominique out.
"Back to the castle..."
"Because..."
"You're acting like an immature little asshole, Sirius"
"Well, excuse me for wanting to spend some time with my girlfriend!!"
"We spend plenty of time together!!! What's the big deal if I cancel plans with you once, to help some friends out? Are you going to act like such a baby every time I cancel plans with you??"
"First of all, I am NOT acting like a baby...secondly, do you plan on cancelling plans with me every Hogsmead trip now??"
"I never said that!! Quit putting words in my mouth!" Dominique exclaimed as they walked into the castle and headed to the great hall. "I'm just saying if I cancelled plans again in the future, are you gonna act all whiny about it??"
"No! And I'm not whinning!! Don't accuse me of that!!"
"Then quit shouting!!" Dominique retorted as they entered the great hall.
"Don't take that tone with me!!"
"I'll talk to you however I damn well please!" Dominique said. She and Sirius stopped suddenly when they realized there were some people behind them. They turned around, only to see Dumbledore walking with Professor McGonagall, both whom were watching them with surprise. Dumbledore narrowed his eyes slightly at the two, as if to give them a warning look, before he continued on with McGonagall.
"As I was saying, Minerva," Dumbledore said, stalking past the bickering couple as if he had heard nothing, "The Chudley Canons have absolutely no chance at all making it to the cup..."
Dominique turned back angrily to face Sirius, who looked somewhat softened now.
"Look, I'm just mad because I had planned a nice romantic day for us, that's all..."
"Oh..." Dominique felt a bit stupid now. "Why didn't you say something before?"
"Well...James looked all nervous this morning...but excited that you were going to help him...I didn't want to spoil it for him..."
"What did you have planned?" Dominique asked as they sat down at the Gryffindor table, which were only holding 1st and 2nd years at the moment. "Well...I got you a rose..." he said, pulling a long stemmed red rose from inside his cloak, and handing it to her. "Then I thought we'd take a nice long walk in the park...it's really pretty in the winter time...they decorate it with fairy lights...after that I wanted to take you to Godric's cafe...where we had our first date...I sent an owl to the manager yesterday, asking them to play 'so this is love',"-
"that was our first dance..."
"and you were singing along with it..."
"you remembered?"
"of course...how could I not?"
"Oh Sirius..." Dominique said quietly, "I'm sorry I messed this up..."
"No, it's ok...we'll do it some other time. Sorry I blew up at you..."
"No, I'm sorry"-
"Hey guys!!" James shouted as he entered the Great Hall arm in arm with Lily. They were both pink from glee, or perhaps from the cold, but either way, they looked rather happy. "I take it you guys had a good time then?" Sirius asked as they sat down.
"Wonderful time, Padfoot old boy..." James replied cheerily. "I'm famished...wish this feast would begin!"
Lily rolled her eyes, but smiled. "You just had a whole sundae 10 minutes ago!"
"It was pretty small"-
"And you ate my soup too"-
"Correction, I finished it for you! You told me to!"
Lily laughed. "I'm not blaming you...I'm just commenting on all the food you ate..and the surprise at seeing you have room for more!"
"He's got an endless pit for a stomach, as I've said before..." came a voice behind them. "Moony!!" James grinned. "Did you guys have fun on your little date?" he asked, grinning at Remus and Kierra.
"Oh yes, quite. Especially watching you and Lily on your date...and seeing Dominique flying out of your ear..." he said as he and Kierra fell into laughter.
"Oh shut up!!" Dominique exclaimed, though she couldn't help but smile as well. "You were at Madam Pudifoot's too? Why didn't you talk to us then?" Lily asked, glancing at Kierra.
"Oh, we didn't want to interrupt you guys...especially when you two were swapping spit..." Kierra replied.
At this, James and Lily turned red, while the others broke into laughter.
"Never would've thought I'd live to see the day..." Sirius said. "I get to be best man at the wedding, I dibs it!"
Lily cleared her throat as food materialized on their plates. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves now..." she said sternly, as they began to eat.
"Hey, Dominique, thanks for helping me out." James said during dinner. "Oh, I hardly helped...I was there for like an hour..."
"Yes, but still, you gave me...I dunno, confidence I guess..."
"As if you ever lacked that..."
James chuckled. "Well, I never had much confidence around Lily," he said, throwing a glance at his new girlfriend, who was chatting with Kierra. "And by the time you left, I had a good idea of how to act around her...and now I'm completely comfortable with being a nice guy...gentleman sort of person..."
Dominique laughed. "But you already were a nice guy, gentleman sort of person..."
James grinned. "If I was, I did a good job at hiding it...anyway, thanks again..."
"No problem..."
"If there's anything you ever need from me...any way I can repay you...just name it."
Dominique paused for a moment and glanced at Sirius, who was talking to Remus about his plans to visit him over winter break. "Actually...there is...I hear you have an invisibility cloak..."
"Where'd you hear that?" James asked quietly.
"No need to hide it, they all know about it," Dominique said, indicating at Lily and Alice. "When Remus transformed...that whole incident with Kierra...she saw you guys with the cloak...she told us about it later..."
"Oh...ok...what about it?"
"Well...I was wondering, if maybe I could borrow it tonight?"
"Er...what for? If you don't mind me asking..."
"Well...it turns out that Sirius had all these great plans for us today, and he was upset that I cancelled on him...to go with you and Lily...so I wanted to make it up to him somehow..."
"So what do you need the cloak for?" he asked, looking at her suspiciously.
Dominique rolled her eyes. "I just wanted it so we could sneak out...good gosh, I wasn't planning on shagging him in it, if that's what you're worried about'
James sighed. "Oh ok...that's fine then. You can use it."
"Excellent...Can I get it from you after dinner?"
"Sure."
'Thanks James, you're the best!" she said with a smile, as James blushed.
Sirius sat with James, Peter and Remus in the Gryffindor common room, watching James and Remus play a game of chess. Clever of a wizard as James was, Remus was simply superb at chess. They were now on their fourth round. Starting off as just one game, it went to best of three games, to best of seven; as James kept losing, and insisted to Lily that he could beat Remus. Sirius could not help but be amused at the scene. James, determined to win another game, had beads of sweat forming around his face, and his eyes widened with anxiety at every move Remus made. The latter on the other hand, looked calm, almost serene, as he made each of his moves. Kierra, his personal cheerleader, also watched avidly, and seemed very much to appreciate Remus's genius.
"You are so sexy when you play..." she murmured.
"You do know you said that out loud, Kierra?" Lily asked, grinning.
"It's true though!!" Kierra protested.
"that's fine, just keep it to yourself though!" Alice chimed in, who was also watching the chess game. "Geez, you think anyone wants to know about your fetishes, aside from Remus?"
To this, Remus smiled, trying to supress a laugh. "I won't even comment," he muttered, "but we're gonna have to have a little chat, Kierra, that's all I'm going to say..."
"Meet me outside the portrait hole, now..." a whisper came from behind Sirius. He turned around, but no one was there. It sounded like Dominique's voice. He looked towards the door, and to his surprise, it quietly opened, and then closed, as if on its own accord. Sirius slowly got up and made to follow, when suddenly Peter stopped him.
"Where are you going, Padfoot?" Peter asked.
"Eh...I'm fancying a little walk..." he replied, as he continued walkking.
"But it's after hours!"
"So? It's not like anyone'll catch me..." he replied coolly, as he left the common room. Just as he stepped out into the hallway, he felt someone grab him around the waist.
"Caught ya..." Sirius wheeled around and found Dominique, grinning at him, with James's invisibility cloak in her arm.
"He let you borrow it?"
"Yea...he owed me one after all...anyway, come on, I've got plans for us..." she said, pulling the cloak over themselves. "Er, where are we going? And...what's with the blanket?" he asked, pointing to the folded blanket tucked away in Dominique's cloak. "Well...I felt bad about today...I just wanted to make it up to you...we're going outside..."
"You know how cold it is at night time around here?"
"We'll light a fire..."
"Ok..." and with that, Sirius and Dominique walked in silence the rest of the way. When they finally got outside, they pulled the cloak off and rested it on the cold ground. "So...what are we doing here?" Sirius finally asked. Dominique turned around and whistled, beckoning several short creatures....house elves. There were three of them, and they each hand their arms full. As Dominique spread the blanket on the ground, the house elves, arranged small platters of food on it. Minutes later, another house elf came scurrying outside, with several long candles in hand. "A thousand apologies for being late, ma'am," he said to Dominique, as he set the candles in the middle of the blanket and lit them. "That's alright..and thank you very much, all of you." Dominique replied, smiling at the elves.
"Call us if you need anything else," a female house elf said, bowing.
"Of course. Thanks again, you all can go now." Dominique replied. As the elves left, Sirius gaped at Dominique, who smiled in return. "Call it a midnight candlelight...only I suppose it's an hour early..." she said as she glanced at her watch. "No matter...well, sit down!" she said. "Oh wait...the ground is freezing...hold on.." she pulled out her wand and muttered a charm, pointing her wand at the earth below them. Immediately the ground all around them began to warm up. "There," she said, tucking her wand away, "that should last a few hours..."
"You didn't have to do this..." Sirius said as he sat down with Dominique.
"Well, I wanted to..." she replied.
"You're about the best girlfriend a guy could ever ask for, you know that?" he said after a while, as he poured himself some hot chocolate. "Giving a guy food...it's nearly as good as making love to him..."
Dominique grinned. "I have something else for you..." she said, getting up. "I had planned for us to do this after we ate...but I figured we should go for it now, before the coldness reached our on, get up!" she said, pulling Sirius up. "Wow, all these surprises...I feel so special..." he said with a sly smile. "I don't mean to excite your anticipations...it's not that great..." she said as she took his hands and placed them around her waist, and placing her own around his neck. As she did so she began to hum a tune that was all too familiar to Sirius, who smiled at hearing it.
"So this is love..." she sung quietly, "So this...is what makes life divine.
"My heart has wings...mmm...and I can fly.
I'll touch every star in the sky...." They danced around unhurriedly to the slow rhythm.
"so this is the miracle that I've been dreaming of.
So this is love..."
(A/N: It's from Cinderella, the old disney one...lol I'm such a dork...)
Sirius smiled with content as Dominique finished singing. "You remembered" he said.
"No, you did. You reminded me..." she replied. "Same difference..." he answered, no longer remembering, nor caring about what they were discussing. He pulled her back to the ground, which was still warm, and pulled her onto his lap to cradle her. Dominique however was glancing up at the sky. "Beautiful…" she murmured, pointing at the night sky, which was glimmering with stars. Dominique pulled herself off of Sirius's lap and lay down on the earth, pulling Sirius down, nudging him to do the same. "When I was little," she said quietly, still staring at the sky, "I'd go camping with Remus's family sometimes…his mum was really into it and so they went a lot…anyway, every time I went with them, at night, they'd just lay there in the dark, staring at the sky, watching the stars…his dad's really into astronomy you know…he'd show us all the constellations…We'd lay there for hours…" "Not surprised," Sirius replied, gazing at the endless darkness above them, "It's absolutely beautiful out here…I think I could lay here for hours too…" "You see those set of stars up there?" Dominique asked, pointing up slightly south of where they lay. "Er, which ones exactly?" Sirius asked, not sure which of the millions of stars he was supposed to be focusing on.
"These…" Dominqiue said, wrapping her hand over his, she traced several stars out in the sky. "Look what shape it makes…" "Looks kind of like a dog…" "Yea…I remember Mr. Lupin telling us that was called Sirius…" "Really?" "Yea…isn't that weird…I mean, not that you bear the name of a star…but the fact that it's a dog…and when you're an animagus you turn into a dog…anyway…I remembered that when I first met you…when you told me your name was Sirius…I really like your name…it sounds almost regal…"
Sirius didn't reply at first. Regality was exactly why he bore that name. It sounded that way to his mum anyway, so she gave him the name. After all, they were Blacks, they were royalty since they were pureblood, hence, they all had to sound royal.
"Thanks…" he said finally.
Dominique pulled herself up slightly to look at him. "Are you ok?" she asked. "Huh? Yea…I'm fine…" "You don't sound like it…what's wrong?" "Well…it's just that…my mum had the same idea as you"— "Oh, Sirius! I didn't mean to sound like you mum"— "No it's ok…I know you didn't…it's not your fault…it's just who I am…I'm a Black, I've got a royal-sounding, Black name…I've just got to get used to it…" he said, putting a venomous emphasis on the word 'Black'.
"Sirius," Dominique said, sitting up now, "who cares if your last name is Black? That doesn't mean anything! No one cares about who your family is! Anyone who does, isn't worth your time anyway…You don't even associate yourself with them…" "Listen, can we just not talk about this anymore?" Sirius said suddenly, as he pulled himself up as well. "I'm sorry…I just…hate thinking about my family, let alone talking about it…nothing personal against you…it's just my problem…They've made my life hell, you know, seventeen years….took me that long to gather enough sense to run away…" he muttered.
"I understand…" "No you don't," he said at once, as he stood up. "It's complicated…my family, my feelings, everything, I don't want to get into it…" "Ok…if you don't want to you don't have to…" Sirius sighed and looked at Dominique, who looked very pale now, either from his sudden outburst or from the cold, or perhaps both. "I'm sorry," he said in a softer voice. "I didn't mean"— "It's ok," Dominique said, smiling slightly at him, putting her hands in his own. "I know how it is to be confused…" Sirius paused for a moment to consider what she said, then it hit him, seemingly like a punch in the stomach. "I forgot that we're kind of on the same boat…" "Well…not entirely…but, we're in the same sea at least…" She replied, as she picked up James's invisibility cloak. "Come on, everyone's leaving tomorrow for holiday, we need to wake up early to say goodbye to them…" "Right…" Sirius said, as he helped Dominique wrap the cloak around themselves while the walked back to the castle.