Remus and Gwen spent the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon swimming. It took Remus all of twenty seconds to feel comfortable with his bare scarred chest bared to Gwen. When, in the playfulness of it all, he had picked her up and thrown her across the pool, she had mentioned in a silly voice that his scars made him look manly. Then she teased him about being a he-man who needed to prove his strength by beating up on women. They both laughed heartily at the absurd idea before he swam over to her and apologized profusely.
That evening Gwen had slipped her shorts back on and Remus had pulled his tee-shirt over his head and they walked down to the village; snacking on thin-crusted pizza margherita and melon gelato. Gwen attempted to convince the gelato vendor that she was Hazel Chinowyth, the famous wizarding actress. First of all, the man did not speak English and second, he was a muggle. Gwen, however, continued her argument until Remus grabbed her arm and, laughing, pulled her towards the middle of the piazza.
"Why did you do that?" she asked; her mock-offended look marred by her burgeoning smile. "I almost had him convinced."
Remus chuckled. "Sorry about that."
"You should be," her smile broadened as she looked up at Remus. "Next time, watch out."
"I'll be sure to remember that," he smirked a little at her.
The red-orange sun was just sinking below the old church as the Italian villagers scuffled past Remus and Gwen. An old woman dressed completely in black and carrying a basket full of plump red tomatoes smiled at them warmly.
"Bella coppia," a woman in a faded sundress and huge sunglasses murmured to the dark-featured man next to her.
Remus watched with great interest as the light from the sunset caressed Gwen's impish grin; seemingly lighting her from within. She blinked and a flush of pink filled her cheeks as her eyes flicked down to the cobble-stoned ground. His lips parted when she looked back up at him. A piece of hair had fallen into her eyes and he pushed it away softly. Then, feeling the heat fill his own face, he looked down as well; scuffing his sandaled feet.
"Remus," she said; laughter back in her voice. It was a different kind of laughter though, a nervous kind.
"Yeah," he looked back up to her excited blue eyes.
"Are you going to kiss me or not?" she said bluntly; her tongue at the corner of her parted mouth. She glanced away for a second; sticking her tongue out farther. Then she looked back at him a little sheepishly.
He was a little shocked at her forward comment, but he smiled anyway and, after a pause, nodded. He stepped closer to her and placed one hand on the side of her face. She leaned forward expectantly; her sapphire eyes burning with anticipation. Remus gently chuckled and rubbed her cheek affectionately; utterly amazed at the girl that stood before him. Then, with a breath, he smiled and leaned in. Softly, he tilted his head and placed his lips on top of hers. Her arms snaked around his waist and he slipped his other hand up to her face; holding it tenderly as he kissed her. He could feel her smiling under his lips and the corners of his mouth moved up with hers. There were gentle coos and affectionate smiles from the villagers as the last light of the Italian sun blessed Remus and Gwen in the middle of the shimmering piazza.
"Remus," she said between kisses. "Do you think we're going to become one of those annoying couples?"
He laughed and she quickly kissed him again.
"Merlin, I hope so," he murmured against her lips as he wrapped his arms around her and the sun sank out of view.
Sirius had stayed at the office late. He couldn't believe it. Him, Sirius Black, at the office late? It was laughable really. But he didn't want to go home. Remus was off in Italy with Gwen and he knew that sitting in that room by himself would only make him think of Dorcas. He tried to ignore the fact that he was instead just sitting in his office thinking about Dorcas.
"Mr. Black," a small voice came from the door.
"What is it, Dione?" he asked, looking up from his desk at his secretary.
She held up a piece of parchment. "The news just came in. Do you want to see it?"
"Is James still here?" he asked uninterestedly.
She shook her head. The curly hair bounced.
"Then let me look at it," he shrugged. She placed the parchment on his desk; her cleavage visible over her low-cut polka-dotted robes. Sirius let himself glance at her chest for a few seconds before his mind went straight back to Dorcas. He made an angry noise and snatched the parchment, reading it quickly. Something caught his attention right away.
"The Stebbinses?" he said in a shocked voice.
"What Mr. Black?" Dione asked. She had turned to leave his office and spun back around to face him.
"Have you read this?" he asked.
She shook her head stupidly.
"The Stebbinses were killed. I went to Hogwarts with the oldest son, Baxter. We only graduated two months ago," he said slowly; placing a hand against his forehead and rubbing his face roughly.
Dione's somewhat blank honey-colored eyes grew and she rushed forward to Sirius' desk; struggling a little in her outrageous heels. "Oh Mr. Black," she placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry."
Her breasts caught his eye again. "You're disgusting, Black," he thought to himself. "Baxter Stebbins has just died and you're staring at your secretary's tits"
He forced his glance away and remembered the last time he had talked to Baxter. It was at the Leaver's Ball. With Dorcas. Dorcas. That was also the last night he'd done anything with a woman. With Dorcas. He hadn't seen Dorcas since school ended; hadn't even heard from her. But she still dominated his thoughts. Suddenly Sirius was filled with a sort of determined, revenge-filled lust. He needed to get her out of his system right now.
Dione was now sitting on the edge of Sirius' desk; looking at him with big eyes. Rather violently, he stood from his desk and walked around next to her. She watched him the whole way; her cow eyes growing scared. When he pulled her roughly to her feet, she put her hands on his chest; ready to push him away.
"Mr. Black," she said breathlessly. "I can't…I'll get fired."
"By who?" he said, a defiant look in his electric gray eyes. "I do own half of the company."
She frowned a little, but didn't resist when he kissed her.
"YOU DID WHAT?" James screamed at Sirius.
The two friends along with Lily, Remus, and Peter were having dinner at Sirius' as a sort of belated housewarming. Lily, luckily, had cooked. Her Potions skills translated into the kitchen well. Sirius and James were cleaning up while Remus recounted his Italian adventure with Gwen to Lily and Peter. Occasionally, she would laugh loudly or make some sort of happy exclamation. James kept glancing at the open door as he magically scoured pots and smiling softly. Then Sirius had told him what had happened the night before. James had dropped his wand in the surprise; causing soapy water to spray all over the kitchen walls.
"I got the news to Reginald before the broadcast," Sirius shrugged.
"But you shagged Dione?" James was agast as he cleaned up the water. "You shagged your secretary? Sirius, you can't shag your secretary."
"Why not?" he asked. "I'm not married."
"Merlin," James said under his breath. "And you wonder why Dorcas wouldn't marry you."
Sirius' head shot up from the sink. "What does she have to do with this?"
James' face finally broke into complete comprehension and he made a sound to show his new view of the incident. "So that's what it was. You were trying to get her out of your head."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Sirius growled, turning back to the dirty goblets in front of him. "She is not in my head."
"You're allowed to have a bird in your head, Sirius," James laughed a little.
Sirius looked at James and, remembering James' former thoughts of Lily, nodded slightly.
"Yeah," he smirked. "I might not have been dumped when I proposed which, yes, does warrant a special kind of disappointment, but I do know about rejection, Sirius."
"You did get her in the end, though," Sirius looked away; glancing out the tiny window over the sink.
"Who's to say you won't too?" James said; shrugging as he sent a pot back to its place in the cupboard.
"Who's to say I want her back," he snapped quickly.
James took a breath; trying to gauge the situation. "Well," he said slowly. "I do know that shagging your secretary is not going to make Dorcas' memory disappear. Unless, of course, you're in love with Dione."
He said the last part with a slight laugh. Sirius made a short, chopped "pshh" sound in utter dismissal of the idea.
"That's what I thought," James laughed.
Sirius grumbled and stopped washing the goblets. "Do you really think she was right, James?"
James was silent for a second. "I do think it would have been a mistake for the two of you to get married." His brow furrowed in thought. "But she was a bloody idiot to just run off like that."
Sirius suddenly felt a huge weight on his chest. Dorcas hadn't wanted to run away. For the first time, she hadn't wanted to take off. It was him who pushed her away. But he couldn't tell James that. He couldn't tell the man with a fiancée he was willing to do anything for that he had pushed away the only girl he'd ever loved because of his pride. Damn that Black arrogance. Despite Sirius' hatred for his family, he knew he had inherited their arrogance. It gave him yet another reason to hate his parents.
"Padfoot," James said; a melancholy grin on his face. "It'll be alright."
Sirius smiled at his friend; taking an unaffected pose and leaning against the kitchen counter. "I know."
James knew Sirius too well to believe this rouse. He frowned a little. "You'll be okay. It just may take awhile."
"I'm fine now," Sirius shrugged; going back to the goblets.
James walked up next to his friend. "Sirius," he said quietly; leaning forward to look at his friend's tortured face.
Sirius took a breath and closed his eyes. "I just miss her something terrible, Prongs."
"I know, mate."