Summary: A sleek Scandinavian, detention romance, a summer fling, the one girl he never expected, and more. Read all about Sirius Black's twisted love-life and the girls who made it click.

Rated: PG-13, but only barely. When you're done with this chapter, let me know if you think it should have been R (M). I know Chapter Four will probably be such.

Disclaimer: See Chapter One.

A/N: Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out; I went on vacation for a week!

Chapter Three

Of Passion Unleashed

Lamont had returned to check on their progress. Sirius and Claire nearly fell off of the desk on which they were perched, still kissing one another passionately, when they heard the doorknob jiggling.

"Shit," Sirius remarked casually as Claire pulled herself out of his lap and ran to the stack of parchment and the ceaselessly-laboring quills. She grabbed the raven feather, pulled up a chair, and sat down; Sirius leapt to his place beside her and snatched up his own quill. It struggled, trying to continue its task.

"Making lots of progress, I see," Lamont observed dully from the doorway a few seconds later.

Sirius and Claire looked over at her casually. "Oh, yes, Professor," Claire affirmed at once, giving her a pleasant smile.

Lamont did not smile back; instead, she strode across the room to inspect the stack of parchment the quills had already finished with. Then she nodded her approval. "Good, good, Mr. Black; your categorization skills are improving."

She lifted a leaf from the pile that bore Claire's handwriting. "And Miss Delacour… very good, very good..."

Claire smiled graciously. "Why, thank you, Professor."

Lamont barely stifled a roll of her droopy eyes. She knew the accursed child was only trying to suck up to her. That Claire Delacour…

Lamont had first met her several weeks previously when she had begun substituting at Hogwarts. Claire was a clever girl – all of the Ravenclaws were – and decent at Defense Against the Dark Arts, but Lamont could not help but feel uneasy around her. Claire was too confident, too smooth, too good at always avoiding trouble. That girl could get away with murder if she wanted to, Lamont remembered observing on the second day of class when Claire talked herself out of trouble regarding failure to properly perform an appropriate defensive hex during an important test.

"I'm not sure what's come over me, Professor," she announced in front of the entire class when Lamont demanded to know why she had been unable to perform the spell. "I mean, I know I could do it last night… I practiced last night, Professor. And was doing it just fine then… it's just…" Claire appeared to think for a moment before continuing more quietly, "…it's just that my brother was married over Easter, and I don't really like his wife, and – I don't know – I guess the stress has been taking its toll on me." Claire Delacour then gave Professor Lamont a sincere look, and said, her voice full of remorse, "I promise if you give me one more night to practice, Professor, I'll be able to do it tomorrow."

What could Lamont do? Her instincts were telling her that Claire was not being entirely honest, but it was only her second day teaching; she couldn't just punish the damn girl on a hunch. So she gave in, and the next day Claire Delacour came into class perfectly prepared and performed the hex without difficulty.

Lamont never found out why Claire really hadn't been able to complete the test, but she had shrewd suspicions. It was probably that boyfriend of hers, she had mused dully soon after the students had departed on that second day of class. She was probably with him all night.

Indeed, there had been numerous other instances in which Claire Delacour had not finished her work, but every time she had simply talked her way boldly out of the situation. This was why Claire Delacour disturbed Professor Lamont: because she was too confident and she was too pretty and she was too goddamn smooth. If she ever turns to evil, they'll be no stopping her, the Professor had observed wryly one evening while reading through a flawless essay of Claire's which had been turned in two days late. If she ever gets the wrong prodding, she'll be destined for infamy.

None of the other teachers noticed this about Claire Delacour; they all looked upon her as a bright, friendly, eager student, pleasant to teach and to have in class. In addition, all of the other teachers overlooked – and in most cases failed to notice altogether – the fact that Claire persistently weaseled her way out of trouble. Lamont suspected that she noticed simply because she had been an Auror for twenty years and had thus been trained to look for such traits in people.

So it was that when Professor Lamont came across Claire Delacour and her boyfriend Hector Zabini at two o'clock in the morning in a narrow side corridor (luckily it was dark, but Lamont still had a pretty good idea of what the two of them had been in the middle of doing), she refused to hear Claire's wily arguments and explanations (Hector simply stood to the side, watching his girlfriend amusedly to see if she would be able to get them out of trouble this time) and instead informed the wayward lovers that they would be sitting out detention for two weeks as a punishment for breaking the rules governing chastity and sexual conduct, not to mention those concerning curfew.

"You are welcome, Miss Delacour," Lamont said back in the present, avoiding Claire's eyes as she glanced back toward Sirius.

He annoyed her, too, that Mr. Black, but it was for far more common reasons. He, too, was overly self-assured, but while Claire was sly in the ways of a natural deceiver, Sirius was childish and rude. He and that James Potter were always causing trouble in class, and poor Severus Snape, a brilliant boy whom Lamont had come to pity over the last three weeks, was always facing their bullying and wrath.

Sirius was nowhere near as smooth with authority as Claire Delacour. He was at ease and comfortable, never loosing his cool or becoming perturbed, but he was far too blatant about it. Sirius resonated confidence: he always got what he wanted, (especially, Lamont had noticed, when girls were involved,) but she knew that his good looks and charming nature could only get him so far.

When Lamont came across Severus Snape, her pity-case and one of her best students, foaming at the mouth, eyes, nose, and ears, and saw James Potter and Sirius Black standing to the side and laughing hysterically, she shook her head in disgust and put them both in detention for two weeks.

Now that she thought about it, Sirius and Claire together in detention was an interesting combination. Sirius had more willpower, more outward confidence, but Claire could certainly hold her own: pressure or a challenge only hyped up her ability to get her way.

"Well, I shall be back at seven to tell you when you are free to go," Lamont said lamely, feeling that she did not intuitively like either of the people seated before her and that it would be best to just leave them to their work.

"So long, Professor!" Sirius said cheerfully.

"See you," Claire added with another of her trademark smiles.

Lamont strode from the room and locked the door.

Claire laughed. "She doesn't like us," she remarked.

Sirius shrugged. "Well, none of my teachers likes me, so–"

Claire shook her head in disagreement and let go of her quill, allowing it to continue categorizing on its own. "Yes they do," she said at once. "You may be an ass, but I'm sure they all take it in stride and console themselves with the knowledge that you'll grow up to be a good citizen."

Sirius shrugged. "Well… Lamont doesn't like me. She likes Snape too much; it cancels out any positive feelings she could have toward his tormentor, see?"

Claire smiled. "Actually, I don't think she likes me either, though I can't figure out why…"

"Maybe because you suck up to her all the time," Sirius suggested dryly.

Claire laughed despite herself. "Maybe… but I bet I do that to all of my other teachers, too, and they seem to like me well enough."

Sirius shrugged again. "Whatever… hey, Claire, question for you: so, I heard through the grapevine that Edric Nott's in love with you. What's your take?"

Claire stared at him for a moment, amused by this abrupt change of subject. Then she laughed easily. "Well, I'll tell you my 'take' once you tell me where you really heard this bit of news."

Sirius smiled. "If you must know, I was inadvertently eavesdropping on Granada and some friend of hers yesterday, and they happened to mention it."

Claire snorted derisively. "Granada and which friend? She has a tad too many to keep track of, if you hadn't noticed."

Sirius narrowed his eyes in thought. "Mmm… don't remember. Like, Kelsey or something."

Claire frowned. "Kelly, you mean? Kelly Drake?"

Sirius shrugged for the fourth time. "Probably. Are there any other Kellys in Slytherin?"

Claire shook her head. "Not that I know of… and they would be talking about me, wouldn't they?" She seemed to be making this comment to herself, now.

"Why would they be?" Sirius demanded.

Claire smiled slightly. "Well… Kelly Drake's completely enamored of Eddie, from what I've seen, and Audrey Granada is the biggest bitch this side of the English Channel."

Sirius grinned. "Is she? How so?"

Claire shrugged lightly. "Well… she had a thing for Hector a while back, I remember… and she's such a whore, and so flirtatious, it was driving me bloody mad."

Sirius smiled. "Yeah, you've got to hate those flirtatious people…"

Claire grinned. "Like hell."

"But anyway," Sirius continued, "what's your view on the subject of Nott having a thing for you? I mean, he's Hector's best friend, right?"

Claire shrugged. "Well… if you must know, I'm sort of indifferent toward it."

Sirius glanced up at her. "Do elaborate," he requested promptly.

Claire examined her fingernails in thought. "It's just… people have liked me in the past, too, but they always move on eventually. I mean, once they figure out that they–"

Sirius smirked. "–that they haven't got a chance, they move on and find new intrigues," he interrupted. He reached over and took her hands confidently. "But I haven't moved on just yet, Claire. It's curious, isn't it? Do you suppose it means that I do have a chance?"

Claire rolled her eyes. "Sirius, don't start."

"No, no! I'm actually curious," he said, nodding for emphasis. "I mean, well… just how many other guys have you had illicit flings with?"

Claire looked up at him in shock. She looked surprisingly hurt. "Sirius!" she exclaimed.

Sirius frowned, not expecting her to have taken his lighthearted comment so hard. "What's up with you?" he asked calmly, not entirely following.

Claire yanked her hands out of his and put them on her hips. "Sacrebleu, why don't you just say, 'No wonder she was so easy to snag, la petite putain, cheating on son petit ami pour la énième fois!'?"

Sirius had no idea what she was talking about. "Goodness, Claire," he observed, "do you always lapse into French when you get angry?"

Claire glared at him for a moment. Then she took a deep breath and sat down again. "Usually," she admitted, nodding. She smiled slightly. "Hector always laughs when I do it."

"Does Hector parle français?" Sirius asked, somewhat curious and still not understanding what she was so mad about.

Claire nodded briskly. "Well, of course. His family's from Morocco, didn't you know that?"

Sirius shrugged. "Vaguely. But Claire – I don't get it – why are you so pissed off all of the sudden?"

Claire stood up again to glare at him emphatically, and Sirius had to work hard not to smile at her; she looked so sexy when she got mad, and when she started ranting at him in French… well!

"Because, Sirius," Claire was saying, slowly and deliberately, "je ne suis pas une putain, et–"

Sirius couldn't control himself any longer; his face cracked into a smile.

Claire grinned. "Just kidding." Then her countenance became more serious as she said, "Look, what I mean to tell you is that I'm not a whore, despite snogging you for two days straight in an abandoned classroom. And I feel terrible for cheating on Hector – especially right now, what with you being a dick about everything – and I'd appreciate it if you'd stop making me feel so guilty!"

Sirius opened his mouth in surprise. He hadn't meant to make her feel guilty at all; at this point, he didn't even remember what he'd said in the first place to start this little tirade. "First of all, Claire," he said suavely, "I thought we'd agreed that the snogging thing was my fault, and secondly, I certainly don't think that you're a whore." He paused for a moment before adding, "It's quite possible that I'm being a dick about everything, though."

Claire continued to glare at him. "Then don't flippantly ask me how many other guys I've had 'illicit affairs' with before you."

"Oh, yeah." Now he remembered what he had said to get her so upset. Sirius took a deep breath. "Claire, I know that you're not a whore. I mean, seriously, you've had the same boyfriend for the past three years." He paused for a moment, the question that he really wanted to ask building on the tip of his tongue, before continuing, "What's wrong with you? I mean, you've taken all of my shit without complaint up 'til now. Why is this such a touchy subject?"

Claire shrugged, but then couldn't help but smile slightly. "I… I really don't know," she admitted resignedly.

Sirius frowned at her for a moment, thinking. "It's because you don't like feeling as if you're being taken advantage of, isn't it?" he realized with a start.

Claire stared at him for a moment. "Yes, I suppose it is." She sat back to ponder that. Indeed, she did not like feeling taken advantage of. Claire Delacour liked to have control of the situation, and though she was by nature attracted to confident people like Sirius Black, she did not want to feel used by them.

Oh, but it wasn't just that, Claire realized belatedly. How many times had Hector lectured her about it, how many times had he accused her, in effect, of being too much of a whore? Why, at Gerard's wedding only three weeks previously, Hector, whom Claire had asked to accompany her, could hardly stop whining to her:

"Claire, who exactly was that boy?"

"That? Oh, that's just my cousin Nico."

(Disbelieving pause) "He's your cousin?"

(Incredulously) "Yes, of course!"

And later:

"Well, Claire, looks like you've been having some fun dancing with the guests…"

"Oh, definitely! I love to dance; you know that!"

(scornfully) "You sure looked comfortable dancing with that last guy."

(Incredulously) "Oh, come on, Hector; that's just Charles! We've known each other since we were babies!"

(still scornful) "Well, he sure seemed to enjoy kissing you back there behind the buffet."

(rolling eyes) "Oh, lighten up, Hector… don't worry about it…" (grasping for the right words) "I mean, come on, he's just Charles!"

And still later:

"Hey, Claire: where have you been?"

(shrugging) "Outside."

(frowning) "With whom, may I ask?"

(shrugging again) "Oh, Alix, Corbin, Silvestre… you know, that crowd."

(continuing to frown) "And what were you doing?"

(smiling slightly) "Well, we got sick of the party and decided to go swimming."

(eyebrows raised) "In your formal clothes?"

(smiling full out) "What do you think?"

(rolls eyes) "Claire, did you just go skinny dipping in the middle of your brother's wedding reception?"

(grinning) "Well, why not? Anyway, it's dark out; nobody saw."

(Looking pissed off) "Claire, you just went skinny dipping with a group of guys. How much did you have to drink tonight?"

(shrugging) "Not too much. But hey, we do it every time they come down to La Rochelle."

(Exhales audibly) "Good grief, Claire… why are you always…?" (trails off)

And so on. Claire hated it when Hector started chastising her for offenses that she really didn't consider to be serious. In Claire's mind, leaping exuberantly into her cousin Nico's arms was pure fun; kissing Charles, her childhood best friend, was only to be expected; and sneaking out to skinny dip with family friends from Tours in the pool out back was the usual entertainment when the grownups had retreated to the sitting room to drink and socialize. Then Sirius, the very person who had started this in the first place (But I wanted it, Claire reminded herself. I wouldn't have been able to say 'no,' but it didn't matter, because I wanted to say 'yes') unwittingly suggested that it wasn't just because of his infuriatingly seductive personality that Claire was cheating on Hector, suggested that she had done this before, just because that was who she was and what she did. Claire knew that Sirius was the first person she had ever met who could make her even consider being unfaithful, and so it was that his comment flat-out insulted her.

"But Claire," Sirius said briskly now, leaning back on his palms to watch her, "knowing very well that I'm not 'taking advantage of you,' and knowing that I don't think that you're a whore – at all, may I add – and knowing that I really liked it when you started yelling at me in French–" and here Claire couldn't help but smile "–is this really the first time you've cheated on Hector?"

Claire looked at him for a few moments from her perch on the desk. Was this the first time she had cheated on Hector?Was kissing Charles considered infidelity? Was playing nude Truth or Dare in the dark of night with three boys while partially drunk considered infidelity? Claire did not consider it so, though Hector probably would have if he knew the full details.

But Claire was answering this question, not Hector (Grâce à Dieu, she almost murmured aloud) and so she nodded. "It is, actually."

Sirius smiled. "Good. Can I kiss you again now?"

Claire laughed. "Asking permission, are we?"

He stood up and crossed over to where she was sitting. She was wearing jeans beneath her robes, and he slid his hands over her thighs and around to the seat of her pants. He left his hands there, and Claire, still sitting on the desk but now with her legs straddling Sirius, who was standing against it, looked up at him from beneath her slanted dark bangs and could not help but smile. Sirius smiled, too, and pressed himself against her, letting one hand caress her back and squeezing her ass with the other. Claire wrapped her arms around his neck and gazed into his gray eyes, so unlike Hector's, which were a warm, deep brown.

Still tracing the small of her back casually with one finger, their bodies so close he could feel the heat coming off of her, Sirius stared at Claire. "Your eyes are purple," he realized with surprise.

"Violet, we call it," Claire replied lightly.

Sirius leaned in even closer to inspect them more acutely. He smelled like spices and loam and something else Claire couldn't name, but it made her want to swoon.

"Get your hair out of the way," Sirius murmured, and Claire slid one hand from the nape of his neck and put it to her forehead, where she swept her bangs more assuredly to one side.

"I always thought they were blue," Sirius remarked, leaning in so close that their noses brushed.

Claire gave a hint of a shrug. "Common mistake."

Sirius smiled. Then he touched her lips with his tongue, ever-so-gently, and Claire closed her beautiful violet eyes and didn't say a word.

-

April 28 was Sirius's birthday. He awoke to find James, Remus, and Peter all standing over him, and a large stack of brightly-wrapped gifts at the foot of his bed.

"Good morning, birthday boy!" James crowed.

"Good morning," said Sirius lightly, glancing around at the faces of his three friends.

"Now's the time when we all give you big birthday kisses," Peter informed him, trying to keep his expression serious as he leaned in closer and puckered his lips.

Sirius laughed. "No thanks," he replied pleasantly, holding up a pillow to block Peter's way. He turned to look toward the base of his bed. "Ooh! Presents!"

Peter grinned and gave up his measly efforts; James and Remus scooted out of the way as Sirius sat up, reached for the nearest gift, and tore off the red wrapping paper.

"Ooh! A book on Quidditch! Why, thank you, Moony! I must say, you can never have too many of these!"

Next he unearthed a bag of dungbombs and other illegal materials from James; a shoebox chock full of candy from Peter; a new Exploding Snap pack with attached friendly letter from the Potters; twelve boxes of chocolates from thirteen different girls, including one pretty box from James's neighbor Tara Nevan and her friend Evetta Niall ("The one from Tara's probably okay, but the rest are probably full of love potions," James remarked. Then he frowned. "Or else poison… I mean, you've broken a lot of hearts lately, Padfoot…"); the usual collection of letters, money, and trinkets from his small selection of decent relatives (Cousin Andromeda, Uncle Alphard, and a few others); and one exceedingly short note from Bellatrix, which read: Happy Birthday! –Bella.

Feeling cheerful despite the missive from Bellatrix, Sirius dressed, showered, and joined his friends to head down to Saturday morning breakfast.

In the Gryffindor common room, several people (mostly girls) waved to him and called out, "Happy Birthday!"

"Did you get my present, Sirius?" Mina Kohler, a pretty, gregarious seventh year with curly dark hair, horn-rimmed glasses, and a terribly enticing body asked him.

He swept his hair out of his eyes and gave her a slow smile. "I believe I did." Mina was one of the girls who had given him chocolates.

"Did you try one yet, Sirius?" Mina asked, coming closer to him and batting her long eyelashes seductively.

Sirius resisted the urge to stare at her chest, the contours of which were visible even through her black robes. Instead, he met her gaze. "Not yet," he said casually. "Haven't even eaten breakfast, you know…"

She gave him an adorable – if somewhat disappointed – smile, and simpered, "Well, I still need to give you a birthday kiss…"

Sirius grinned slightly despite himself. "If you must," he agreed suavely.

Mina leaned toward him, grabbed the lapels of his robes, and proceeded to press her lips against his passionately. Sirius was quite frankly enjoying it, but then James gave a small cough and said, "You know, we really must get to breakfast, Padfoot…"

Mina pulled back; Sirius winked at her; and she strolled away, a slight spring in her step.

"Good grief, Padfoot…" Remus muttered with an exaggerated roll of his eyes as they made their way out of the portrait hole.

Sirius grinned sheepishly. "What?"

"Is the entire trip down to the Great Hall going to be like this?" asked Peter idly, watching as two more girls, both from Hufflepuff, ran up to them with a chorus of,

"Happy Birthday, Sirius!" They kissed him – one on each cheek – before hurrying on their way, both of them giggling hysterically.

Sirius smiled again. At this rate he would be getting even more birthday kisses than he had last year, when James had tallied a rough total of thirty-seven.

As they continued down the corridors and staircases toward the Great Hall, Sirius received seven more kisses, two from girls he had dated, one from a girl he had had a one-night fling with, and the remaining four from girls he could remembered either hitting on or having been hit on by at some point over the last year.

"You know, I hate my life," James observed pleasantly, as the seventh girl, a highly attractive Ravenclaw fifth year by the name of Brynn Merwyn, (who happened to be the younger cousin of that same Dilys Merwyn with whom Sirius had shared his first kiss,) gave Sirius a pleasant peck on the lips before skipping away down the corridor, her loose red curls flying.

"And that after you dumped her and everything!" Peter remarked incredulously, turning to watch Brynn Merwyn round the corner, her long hair still swishing fancifully behind her.

Sirius shrugged. "Yeah, well, we broke up on good terms," he explained.

James laughed dryly. "You mean, it was mutual?"

Sirius shook his head. "No… but I hadn't actually cheated on her or anything; I'd only come close."

James laughed again. "She's one lucky girl."

"Those Merwyns…" Remus mused airily. Brynn had dated him for a short while after her relationship with Sirius had ended, but over the Christmas holidays she had evidently found herself a new boyfriend down in Wales, for she had broken up with Remus upon the start of January term. The Merwyns – Brynn's younger brother, Gareth, a first year; her cousin, (who was also a cousin of Dilys Merwyn,) Gwendolyn, a third year; and Brynn herself were the only ones currently at Hogwarts – were known for their standard good looks, outgoing personalities, and the manner in which they could almost always be found in an intimate relationship with someone of the opposite sex. Merwyns were just mature that way.

Now in the Great Hall, Sirius sat down between James and Remus and looked around somewhat expectantly. As suspected, nearly all of the fourth-year-and-above girls at their section of the table had turned toward him. Most were smiling pleasantly, or else giggling despite themselves.

Sirius felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to find Lily Evans and her friend Savannah Baron standing behind him. "Happy birthday, Sirius!" Savannah, a tall girl with brown eyes and long blond hair who played Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, exclaimed eagerly. She then gave him a flirtatious smile while Lily rolled her eyes.

"Why, thank you!" Sirius replied briskly, smiling back at her before turning to glance at Lily. "And you, Evans? Care to wish me a happy birthday?"

Lily stifled another roll of her eyes. "Happy birthday, Black," she replied briskly.

"Why, thank you!"

Lily smiled despite herself.

"Ah! Good morning, Evans!" James said pleasantly, turning to face her.

This time, Lily could not conceal her eye rolling. "Good morning, Potter," she said tiredly.

"So… how are you, Evans?" James asked, still the epitome of cheeriness.

Lily shrugged nonchalantly. "Decent. And you?"

"Never better!"

Sirius rolled his eyes and turned back to Savannah, who had been watching him. "So… going to give me a birthday kiss, Annie?" he asked suavely.

Savannah blushed slightly, but could not suppress a grin. "Oh, alright, Sirius… if you insist."

"I do," Sirius said at once, winking at her.

Still blushing and now attempting to contain her broad grin, Savannah Baron leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.

Sirius winked at her again and then turned toward Lily, who had just turned James down for a date yet again. "And you, Evans? Fancy a birthday kiss?"

James let out a snort of indignation mingled with amusement.

Lily glanced at Sirius thoughtfully. Her expression became disdainful as her eyes shifted to James. Then she turned back to Sirius, thoughtful once more. "Sure," she said evenly, leaning forward and kissing him on the cheek.

James gaped at her in utmost shock. "Why don't you ever kiss me on my birthday, Evans?" he demanded.

Lily rolled her eyes at him, beckoned for Savannah, who was trying to catch Sirius's eye again, to follow her, and set off down the table.

"What the hell?" James groaned, turning to glare at Sirius in exaggerated reproach. "What the hell did she do that for?"

Sirius shrugged, highly amused. "Well, I would say she was just trying to spite you, mate," he said easily.

Peter and Remus both looked on the brink of laughter, but one look from James caused them to cough into their hands pointedly. Sirius patted James on the back. "Hey, it doesn't mean anything, Prongs," he assured him pleasantly. "Don't fret, now…"

James swiveled in his seat to watch Lily and Savannah, who were taking seats far down the Gryffindor table.

"And that Annie… she could have at least said 'Good Morning' to me!"

James had dated Savannah Baron for almost two months at the start of school, but she had eventually grown sick of James's persistent infatuation with Lily Evans, who happened to be one of her best friends, and so had dumped him for good. Now the two rarely spoke; it was too awkward.

Sirius exhaled patiently. "Don't worry about it, mate," he repeated. "Just because Annie's a bit touchy doesn't mean you need to beat yourself up over it."

He was distracted by Inessa Barrington, who came up and kissed him on the cheek without so much as a forward greeting.

"Why, hello, dear!" Sirius remarked, turning to look at her.

Inessa smiled prettily and blushed. "Happy birthday, Sirius," she murmured.

Sirius swept his hair out of his eyes and grinned at her; she blushed even harder. Sirius smiled inwardly: he had always enjoyed flirting with Inessa Barrington, because she was terribly prudent and so got ridiculously embarrassed whenever boys attempted to engage her in anything more than casual conversation. In addition, Inessa was in a perpetual state of embarrassment around Sirius to begin with because they had hooked up the lone time she had gotten drunk, and though her memory of the night was somewhat hazy, it still caused her to feel deliciously bad.

Sirius leaned back and looked into Inessa's eyes sultrily. She had lovely eyes, both a deep, clear green, and her hair was blonde, curling into large ringlets at her shoulders. She never wore makeup – not that she needed it – and she looked like the very picture of innocence and chastity. Inessa blushed even more deeply and averted her gaze from his. She then let out a slight giggle and hurried back toward the Hufflepuff table.

Sirius almost laughed. That Inessa Barrington… true, she couldn't kiss for shit – she never had any practice, he figured – but there was something very entertaining about hooking up with the most well-mannered girl in school.

He would have to discuss this with Claire; she would most certainly have an opinion on the matter.

Meanwhile, Tara Nevan and Evetta Niall arrive at the table. "Happy birthday, Sirius!" Evetta said shyly.

"Why, thank you, Niall!" Sirius replied at once.

"Call me Evie," she said, smiling at him.

Sirius winked. "Of course, Evie."

"Happy birthday, Sirius!" Tara said, much less shyly. "Did you get our present?"

He nodded. "Yes I did… haven't eaten any of it yet, though; I figured I'd eat breakfast first."

Tara smiled. "Logical thinking. Well..." she trailed off. Sirius smiled at her pleasantly for a moment and then turned back to James, who seemed to have gotten over his laments in the amusement of watching Sirius talk to Inessa Barrington.

"Want some toast, Prongs?" Sirius offered, reaching for the stack.

James nodded. "Please."

Tara Nevan was still smiling hesitantly. Then she seemed to give it up and turned back down the table in search of a place to sit.

"She wanted to kiss you, too," Remus remarked casually.

Sirius shrugged. "She could have; I wouldn't have stopped her."

James rolled his eyes. "Why are you so indifferent toward her, Padfoot? It drives her mad, you know."

Sirius shrugged again. "Whatever. She needs to hang out with boys her own age, anyway."

James snorted slightly. "Of course… well, she shouldn't watch you too closely, then; you set a pretty poor example."

Sirius smiled indulgently. "Why do you care so much, Prongs? So what if I don't fancy Tara Nevan?"

James smiled, too. "Well… it's just that she's the closest thing I ever had to a little sister, and I feel very protective of her, so–"

Peter and Remus laughed. "Then why on earth would you be encouraging Sirius to interact with her?" Peter demanded.

Sirius laughed, too. "Yes, good question, Prongs."

James shrugged. "I'm not that protective; I just don't want her going mad over your attitude toward her."

Sirius smiled. "How sweet. You know, Prongs, this is quite a different tone from the one you used to take back when Tara was obsessed with you, say… oh… this time last year."

James grinned. "I know… curious, isn't it?"

Sirius barked out a laugh and took a large bite of egg-on-toast.

-

By the time five o'clock rolled around, Sirius felt that he had had a very satisfactory birthday. He had been kissed by approximately fifty girls, and at least ten of the kisses would have erupted into full-out snogging had James, Remus, and Peter not forced him to stop.

"Come on, Padfoot; you have detention in five minutes," Peter chirped loudly as girl number fifty, a sleek seventh year named Gina Davies who was captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team and had caused Sirius (she called him her "Favorite Beater") to dump many of her friends (though, curiously, he had never actually dated Gina herself, despite all the times they had slept with one another) pushed him against the wall and started kissing him passionately.

Sirius held Gina away after a few more moments and rolled his eyes exaggeratedly toward Peter, saying, "Yeah, I have to go to that."

Gina swept her elegantly-cropped dark hair back over her head and smiled at him, looking a bit embarrassed, though her cinnamon-colored skin made it hard to discern whether or not she was blushing.

Sirius smiled at her easily before turning and making his way out of the common room, James, Remus, and Peter shaking their heads in amusement at his retreating back. Indeed, Sirius was looking forward to seeing Claire, not only because he hadn't seen her all day but because he was hoping for an extra-long birthday kiss from her, too.

When he arrived at the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, nearly on time but for having been stopped thrice by girls looking to give him birthday kisses, including Sinead from Hufflepuff, the girl with whom he had had a one-night stand weeks before, Sirius was feeling very elated. He wondered if Claire knew it was his birthday yet.

Professor Lamont surveyed Sirius dully, mumbled a crisp, "Good evening, Mr. Black," and then watched the clock for the next ten minutes until Claire stumbled in.

"Good evening, Professor; Sirius," she said cheerfully, striding across the classroom toward them.

"Miss Delacour, you have been tardy to detention far too often," Lamont observed.

"Oh, I know, Professor, and I'm really sorry," Claire said at once, "but it's just that I've had a lot of work lately, what with N.E.W.T. studies and making sure I'm keeping up with your Defense Against the Dark Arts works to the best of my abilities…"

His back to Lamont, Sirius raised an eyebrow skeptically at Claire, who ignored him.

"I really do apologize, Professor," Claire concluded, giving Lamont a highly sincere look.

Sirius turned around to look at the Professor, who was frowning slightly as if not sure how to respond to Claire's words. She opened her mouth several times, but no sound came out, until finally she muttered, "Very well, Miss Delacour… but mind you two work very diligently for the next two hours…"

Claire nodded at once. "Of course, Professor."

"And Mr. Black?" Lamont demanded, turning to Sirius.

"Certainly, Professor," Sirius assured her at once.

Without another word, Lamont turned and left the room, locking the door behind her as always.

As soon as she was gone, Claire turned to Sirius. "I hear it's your birthday, Black," she remarked.

"Stick with 'Sirius,'" he replied, "and yes, it is. And where'd you hear it?"

Claire smiled. "From most of the older girls in Ravenclaw. They couldn't stop talking about how they'd gone up and given you birthday kisses…" Now she grinned. "Silly girls… what on earth were they thinking?"

Sirius grinned, too. "Beats me. Hey, Claire, guess what? We're the same age now!"

Claire nodded. "We are… but only for another month; I'll be eighteen on May 27."

Sirius continued to grin. "Well, Claire, I think a birthday kiss is in order."

Claire laughed. She stood up, strode over, and kissed him fully on the lips. Sirius slid his hands through the slit in the front of her robes and grabbed her waist. Her shirt was pulled up slightly, as she had put her hands on his shoulders and her arms were raised, and so Sirius's hands were on bare skin. Claire's sides felt soft and dry.

He ran his hands around to her back and slid them upward, pushing her shirt with them.

Claire stopped kissed him and put her hands on his forearms, forcing them back down gently. "Sirius, what are you doing?" she groaned.

Sirius grinned at her despite himself. "Déjà vu," he remarked, "and I should have thought that'd be quite obvious." He took her hands in his and lifted them out of the way.

"Sirius…" Claire began.

"Claire…" Sirius replied.

Claire exhaled slowly and seemed to be trying to compose herself. "Look, Sirius–" she tried again, but Sirius interrupted her.

"Hey, Claire, care to take off your robes? I mean, it's not like Lamont's going to come back anytime soon and I'm sure that whatever you're wearing under it is a lot prettier than the way it looks right now."

Claire groaned slightly. "Sirius, I really don't think–"

"I'll do it, too: look," Sirius put in smoothly, undoing the clasp on his black robe and sliding it off. Beneath it, he wore a pair of jeans, a belt, and a plain black shirt.

Claire looked him up and down, and couldn't help but smile. "You know, you almost look better in robes."

Sirius frowned, not at all bothered. "Odd. Well, anyway, it's your turn, Claire: take 'em off."

Claire closed her eyes for a moment in concentration. When she opened them, she looked at Sirius beseechingly. "Sirius, why do I need to–"

"As a birthday present for me," Sirius put in at once. "Now come on; it'll be fun to sit around and not do that categorization in muggle clothes rather than normal ones."

Claire gave him a skeptical look, but she knew already that there was no way to win: he would always get what he wanted in the end.

"Fine," she grumbled, undoing the clasp on her own black robes and tossing them onto the desk behind her.

Sirius made a great show of doing a double-take. Claire, like most girls, did look much better in muggle clothes. She was wearing a navy skirt made of some thin fabric that fell to just above the knee, a button-up white polo with a collar (on which the top two buttons had not been buttoned), and a pretty silver necklace. Her hair was down today, and it framed her face appealingly.

"Damn, Claire," Sirius whistled. "You should break the dress code more often!"

Claire rolled her eyes. "Thanks for the observation."

Sirius came forward and pinned her against the desk. "Hey, Claire," he murmured. "Inessa Barrington kissed me today." He kissed her gently. "What are your thoughts?" He kissed her again.

Claire grinned slightly despite herself. "Inessa Barrington?" she repeated. Sirius kissed her a third time, and Claire leaned away from him. "Do you want to hear my thoughts or not?" she demanded.

Sirius shrugged and pulled forward to kiss her a fourth time. Claire pushed him away with one hand and brushed his hair out of his eyes with the other. "I think it's adorable," she whispered. "Happy?"

Sirius nodded. "Very much so." He caught her hand and kissed it. Then he kissed her on the lips passionately as he slid his other hand up along her thigh, under her dark skirt.

Claire felt her breath catch. She grabbed his hand with hers and held it there, before it could slide any higher. But Sirius was unperturbed; he kept kissing her, and Claire didn't pull away. Despite herself, she felt her grip on his hand loosen. She shuddered in pleasure mingled with horror as she felt his finger trail further up her inner thigh. Fuck, she was about to get fingered by Sirius Black, and just the night before Hector Zabini had told her (both verbally and physically) how much he loved her.

She felt his fingers reach her panties and didn't know how to react. With a jolt of self-loathing, Claire realized that she wanted Sirius to keep going. But she couldn't do that, she thought desperately; first base was one thing, but third?

Claire forced herself to pull back from him. "Sirius, don't," she said sharply.

He looked at her calmly, not in the least put out. "If you say so, Claire," he replied lightly. He didn't mean it, though; Claire knew he was still confident in his ability to get what he wanted in the end.

"I have a boyfriend," Claire murmured. "I have a boyfriend, Sirius… I can't… I mean, kissing is one thing, but…"

Sirius smiled at her despite himself. "Claire, my dear," he replied, "you're still a teenager. Live a little." He leaned in to kiss her again, but Claire wouldn't let him.

"It's not that simple, Sirius!" she cried, grabbing his hand to keep it from going back up her skirt.

Sirius smiled at her indulgently. "Indeed? Do enlighten me."

Claire exhaled slowly and sat down on the desk behind her. "It's just… it's just…" but Claire, for once in her life, could not think of anything to say.

In truth, it was just that she couldn't resist Sirius Black. It was a curse – an enjoyable one, to be sure – that she had to live with. When it came to Sirius Black, Claire Delacour was just like all the other girls.

"Claire," Sirius murmured, putting his hands on her waist once more and looking into her eyes, "just… go with it."

Claire stared back at him for a moment, her heart going a mile a minute, trying to catch her breath. "We need to make the quills start categorizing," she announced at last, fighting to keep her voice steady and she pushed him out of the way and strode to the stack of parchment at the front of the classroom.

Glancing behind her, she saw Sirius, leaning against the desk now, grinning at her. Claire fought the urge to run back over and kiss him; she turned back to the stack of parchment and pulled out her wand.

She felt his hands on her waist a moment later, and then Sirius pulled her back into him and wrapped his arms around her. "Claire," he whispered, "you worry too much."

Then he spun her around, pushed her against the teacher's desk behind them, and started kissing her again.

Yay! Reviews!

lavizsla – thanks; I will!

Sweet 16 Movie Buff – yes, yes… if he finds out!

Mog-everything – I'm glad you liked it!

Potpoury– likewise.

Lainia26 – I'm glad you think it's cool!

caramel – I will!

lillyskywalker3 – ooh, I'm so glad! Grazie infinite!

Here's a translation of all the French:

Sacrebleu - My god

la petite putain - the little whore

son petit ami pour la énième fois -her boyfriend for the upteemth time

parle français- speak French

je ne suis pas une putain, et - I am not a whore, and

(I know it seems sort of weird out of context, but if you go back up and substitute this stuff in, it makes sense.)

FYI, at this point, all of the characters with whom I'm planning Sirius to have some sort of romantic intrigue (after all, Claire graduates in June) have been introduced. Make predictions (or suggestions, though I've worked out most of it already) if you want!

And on that note, please review!