Two days have passed since the dinner-incident and Amy could still feel the uncomfortable feeling of embarrassment crawling up her stomach at the thought of it. None of her old schoolmates have tried to get in touch with her since then, so she figured it would be best to forget about the whole situation.
It was Friday, almost time for lunch, when she helped Mr. Cavenar to rearrange the remedies and cosmetics in the shop window, already thinking of going home in the evening and running herself a hot bath to start the weekend right.
A scratching sound on the entrance door attracted her attention, so she left her boss for a minute, who was still pondering about the new presentation. Outside was an owl, carrying a medium-sized parcel, that looked far too big for it to carry, but was surprisingly light as she picked it up and offered a Sickle in return.
Amy brought the box inside and asked: "Are you expecting a delivery, Leonard?"
"Hm? No, I don't think so", he mumbled while fumbling with the vials and bottles, trying to place them in the perfect position.
Amy put the box on the counter, unwrapped the yarn to open it and found a slice of cake, along with a letter inside. The cake appeared to be chocolate fudge and she could detect the letters H-A-P written on it in white tube icing. She took out the envelope, which was covered in bits of chocolate and opened it to read the letter.
"Dear Amy,
sorry again for the little scene on Wednesday - we all hope you're not angry with us. I'm sending you a piece of my birthday cake as an apology.
Peter made it and he's the best baker I know. Don't worry, it's not poisoned. He apologizes as well and hopes you enjoy his creation.
Would you agree to join me for a drink at the Leaky Cauldron tonight, so I can apologize properly? If you don't answer, I'll await you there at 8.
If you don't want to come, please return the cake, so I know you're not interested. (I know, that's blackmailing, but some situations require enhanced measures.)
Hope to see you tonight,
Sirius"
She couldn't help but laugh - there went her bathtub plans.
It was two minutes to eight when Amy walked towards the Leaky Cauldron. Snow landed softly on her hair and her breath was visible in the cold air, when she turned a corner and saw Sirius waiting in front of the pub.
She could see his smile from afar when he looked down to the ground after spotting her and felt the spark in her chest as their eyes met again. Wasn't it a little bit early for those kind of feelings?
"My parcel convinced you, I see", Sirius said and laid his arm around her shoulder to pull her towards him for a hug.
"Well, you didn't really leave me a choice", Amy grinned. "You didn't include an address to return it to."
"That was part of the plan", he whispered as he opened the door for her.
They went in and sat down at a small table in the back of the pub, the toasty air warming up Amy's icy fingertips.
After ordering drinks from the waiter, Sirius asked: "How was the cake?"
"Really good! Peter is a very talented baker", she replied.
"No poison?"
"Well, I may have tested a little chunk of it, before I ate it", she said, making both of them laugh. "Happy belated birthday by the way. I'm sorry, I didn't know."
"Don't worry. And thank you", Sirius told her. "I don't know when yours is either."
"May 15th", she said. "You're 26 now, right?"
"I am. A weird age, isn't it? Some people are already married with kids, others still live with their parents."
"True. You're not married with kids I assume, so do you live with your parents still?", she asked sacastically.
"No", he said, his expression went blank for a split second, before the waiter brought their drinks and he got distracted. "I've been living on my own for quite a while now."
"Like me", Amy said, clinked her glass with his and took a sip. "But sometimes I miss living with my parents. Them taking care of everything, no responsibilities. It was nice, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, I don't know if I can agree actually", Sirius said, smiled and looked into his glass. "I didn't have a good relationship with my parents back then."
"Mind if I ask why?"
"Well, the biggest issue was their loyalty to the dark side. Stubbornness, vanity and feeling as if they were royals because of our family name and blood status", he explained and rubbed his palm across his stubble. "They treated me and my brother like princes. Like we somehow were better, more valuable, than others, just because we were Blacks. But they also expected us to behave like we were."
"And then you got sorted into Gryffindor", Amy concluded as she watched him.
"Correct. It was a perfect comeback. I always liked to piss them off, but I knew I belonged there anyway. I guess it went all downhill from there", he said and exhaled a breathy laugh.
"Maybe they will change their minds someday. Maybe you can-"
"Uh-uh, impossible", Sirius interrupted and took a big sip. "They're dead. All three of them."
Amy felt her face falling. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... Fuck, I'm stupid."
"You're not. You didn't know, that's fine. Not your fault my life's a mess", he said and smiled at her. "It's not quite the topic I imagined us talking about though, I'll admit that."
"What is it then?", she asked before drinking.
"You know, the usual. Like how was work today?"
"Oh it was fine. I got a package from some guy, trying to win me over with cake."
"Wow, what an idea. Did it work?"
"You know, cake hardly ever disappoints. So yes, it worked", she said, downed the rest of her drink and held the empty glass with both hands.
Sirius wrapped his fingers around Amy's, leant in and said: "Great. Another round on this guy's wonderful ideas."
They kept on chatting for countless further rounds, joking and laughing about old school stories, as well as funny moments from their current lives. Amy liked that they shared the same kind of humour, she was comfortable around him and it was easy to keep the conversation going.
It was past 2 a.m. when they decided it was time to go home. Sirius insisted on paying all of their drinks, it was part of his apology, he said.
When they went outside, the crisp air flushed Amy's cheeks and she felt how tipsy she really was.
"How are you going to get home?", Sirius asked, his words slurred as well and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.
"I walk. I never apparate after drinking, but my flat is only fifteen minutes from here. You can join me to sober up a bit", she told him. "I can order you a taxi from there, if you don't feel well enough to disapparate", she added to make sure it didn't sound too much like an invitation.
They started walking and bumped their shoulders against each other's occasionally. After the fifth time, Amy linked her arm with Sirius' and mumbled: "We're both tipsy it seems."
"We are", he said and laughed quietly, pulling her in a bit further, while taking a drag from the cigarette. He offered her one too, like last time, but this night he brought his own hand to her mouth and let her take a pull. She giggled before her lips touched the inside of his fingertips and she started to inhale the smoke.
"I never would have thought that a good girl, Potions master, would enjoy smoking", he said and shook his head grinning.
"Good girls can make bad life choices as well, you know", she told him and pushed her shoulder against his, making them both stagger for a second.
When they reached her flat, Amy stood on the doorstep, equalizing their height-difference.
"I had a really good time tonight", she said as she unhooked herself from him. "Thank you for the drinks."
"Me too", Sirius answered and closed the gap between them, holding her hands. "We could grab some lunch together next week if you want."
"Sure", she said and caught him staring at her lips.
The grip around her hands tightened a bit, before he placed them on his shoulders and neared her face with his.
His mouth touched the right side of her upper lip, just once, slow and soft, before he pulled back and looked into her eyes again.
Amy's smile seemingly convinced him to go in again, now brushing over her lips with his. Her fingers dug into the fabric on his shoulders as they stood in front of her flat, kissing so slowly it felt like an eternity and she could feel her heart beat inside her head, a million sparks crackling all over her skin.
He tasted like whiskey and cigarettes, his scent a mixture of leather and wood, his grip tight around her waist, when he started to place kisses on her neck, let his weight press her against the entrance door and his hands wandered downwards slowly.
That was when she froze for a moment. Did he want her to invite him inside? She pushed him off slowly and said: "I'm sorry, that's a little fast for me."
Sirius cleared his throat and took a step back. "Sorry, I got distracted. Didn't want to overwhelm you."
"Don't worry", she said and put a strand of her behind her ear. "I tend to be cautious with guys like-" She interrupted herself. Did she really just say that?
"Guys like what? Like me?", he asked and furrowed his brows.
"Sorry, no. I'm drunk, I don't know what I'm saying."
"No, no. Go on, let me know what you think of me", he requested in a huff.
"Sirius, it's not like that. It's just... You had a reputation back in school."
"Oh, so you think I'm the same person I was back then? And I would spend a whole night, telling you about my family just to get inside your pants?"
"No, I... I'm sorry Sirius, don't get mad. I happened to be with a guy once and it all went too fast. He didn't care for me as much as I did for him and I don't want to make the same mistakes. He was just -"
"Like me, wasn't he?"
"No, I wanted to say-"
"You know what? Fuck that! Fuck people who thought I was racist for my heritage, fuck people who thought I was big headed for what my friends did and fuck people who think I'm still the same person I was at sixteen. So no Amy, I'm not mad, just fuck off and leave me be if you think I don't care for anyone, cause maybe that makes you not worth being cared about."
He turned around too fast for her to hold him back, took a few steps on the pavement and disapparated, not able to hear any of Amy's apologies.
Two weeks have passed and Amy still got no sign of Sirius or anyone of his friends. She was at work again, trying to forget what happened, yet couldn't help but think about her last encounter with him.
She was still mad at herself for saying those stupid things, but got more angry with Sirius each day, for twisting things she didn't mean and being overly dramatic about it. They were drunk, surely they both took things differently as intended.
Was it her turn to send him a slice of cake now? Or would he hate her forever? She didn't even know his address, so there went her possibility to apologize.
The only way would be to send something to Lily and James, but that seemed pathetic. Maybe she could ask Remus about him, when he would come and get his potion next month.
Just when she thought of Remus, the shop's door slammed open and he stormed in, his chest heaving and shirt covered in red stains.
"Amy!", Remus called. "I'm sorry, but you have to help us. We've been attacked. Most of us are alright, but Sirius is badly injured. We tried to help him as best as we could, but we need a professional."
"What?", she exclaimed and looked for her emergency bag. "Leonard, I-"
"It's okay Amy", Mr. Cavenar said. "Go! Be quick!"
