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: T, if that… but the next one will be M again
Disclaimer: See Chapter One.
A/N: I know it's been wicked long… like what, three, four months? I apologize. But I've been busy applying to college and enjoying Second Semester Senior Year. It's a party.
Bon appetite!
Chapter Twelve
A Simple Misunderstanding
Sirius received a letter on Monday morning. An owl swooped down into the Great Hall and dropped the beige-colored envelope into his scrambled eggs.
"Who's it from?" Savannah, who was sitting across from him, asked as he flicked off the bits of egg and turned the envelope over.
"We're about to find out."
Savannah smiled indulgently and took another bite of her own eggs.
Sirius slit the envelope open and extracted the letter within. He glanced over it quickly, and felt his heartbeat quicken slightly.
Claire.
"It's from Claire Delacour," he informed Savannah casually.
James and Remus both looked up. "What does she want?" James asked, as Remus gave Sirius what was almost a warning look.
Sirius shrugged, folded the letter, and slid it into his pocket. "Who knows? Anyway, I'll read it later."
Savannah's smile was now faint, but appreciative. "So… did everyone finish their papers for transfiguration?"
His friends bantered on about school matters, but Sirius was rife with anticipation. He hadn't heard from Claire since summer, and already, just having a letter from her in his pocket, he was missing her. Not in a heartbreaking, emotional way – no, just as one might miss a good friend.
This was what he told himself, anyway.
-
He dashed into the bathroom to read the letter on the way to class.
Dear Sirius, it began. How on earth are you? I have loads of stories I want to tell you; I've just spent the last three months traveling and it's been fabulous. I learned some Arabic and rode a magic carpet and met the craziest people, you have no idea! I wish you were here – platonically, I mean. Hah. I got your postcard, it made me laugh –
Sirius paused for a moment, trying to remember what he had written in reply to the postcard she had sent him over the summer. Then it came to him: he'd ended the card with a single "X" and written, "I don't kiss cheeks."
Gee, witty.
He turned back to the letter.
– and I hope you're having a really fantastic seventh year. Don't do anything too silly, you're a great guy when you put your mind to it!
So anyway, I'm actually writing you because I'm going to be coming up to Scotland tomorrow on some business for my new job – I'm interning at the French ministry and they're sending me to Edinburgh on assignment. But I also get to go up to Hogsmeade on Friday to meet up with a client, and, if you're not busy, I was wondering if you wanted to come get a drink with me and catch up on everything!
Hah, sorry if that sounds very suggestive; I really mean it a very professional way. I miss you!
Yours,
Claire
He leaned against the wall. Well, this sounded exceptionally fun! He wondered how serious Claire was about all of this "platonic" business.
He paused for a moment – maybe she had actually changed a lot over the past three months of traveling. Maybe she was now completely loyal to Hector Zabini. Or – maybe not? He wasn't sure what to make of this situation. He was sure there was more to it than could be said in a letter; there had to be more to it.
His old adoration of Claire was slowing rekindling. He wondered if she still looked the same, if she still acted the same. Maybe she had aged years in the months she'd been away. Would everything be just as it was, or would it be different?
At least it wouldn't be awkward. That would be impossible.
In the end, Sirius resolved that all he could do was reply to the letter in the affirmative and then spend all week waiting for Friday.
Anyway, there really was no point in going to Transfiguration today; he had to consider this new development. He hurried through the corridors, which were rapidly emptying as students found their classes, and up to his dormitory, where he pulled out a sheet of parchment and penned a response.
Why, Claire!
It would be a pleasure to come meet you strictly professionally! I've missed you too – fancy that. I also have loads to tell you about; I've done some silly stuff that you'll probably think is hilarious and/or appalling (but hopefully the former), and I'm currently embroiled in a weird sort of friendship with the last person you (and I mean you, personally) would ever expect. I can't give away any more than that, though! I look forward to surprising and amazing you. I'll meet you at the Hog's Head at eight o'clock, how about?
Yours in exceedingly professional anticipation,
Sirius Black
He smiled at his candor and sent the letter at once.
-
The week seemed needlessly long, and largely pointless. Class was nondescript. Sex was standard. Friends were same ole, same ole.
Sirius gave Savannah a brief synopsis of his correspondence with Claire, and explained equally concisely – and vaguely – that they had been good friends the previous year. Savannah nodded thoughtfully and moved on, regarding the issue as not very important.
Remus asked Sirius what exactly he was hoping to glean from all of this.
"Did you tell Annie what the real deal is with you two?" he asked hesitantly.
Sirius shook his head at once. "Of course not. Nobody knows about that; it's irrelevant."
Remus rolled his eyes. "Well I would think Annie had a right to know about your previous sexual relationships…"
Sirius shrugged. "Why? It's unimportant. It'll only worry her. There's no way anything will happen with Claire, mate; she's completely in love with Zabini. I just happen to like her as a person and would very much like to catch up with her."
Remus nodded grudgingly. "Be sure that that's all you do, though, Padfoot," he said. "You really don't want to hurt Annie. She's… well, you don't want to hurt her. Trust me."
Now, Sirius rolled his eyes. "Duh. Don't worry, Moony; I'm not a complete idiot. I care plenty about Annie and her feelings."
He wasn't sure he really did, though. He felt consumed by the premise of seeing Claire Delacour for the first time since last term. He received a response from her on Wednesday, a cheerful,
Hi, Sirius!
Eight o'clock would be excellent! I'll see you then. I look forward to hearing about what a bad boy you've been.
Best,
Claire
By Thursday Sirius could hardly stand the anticipation. He wasn't sure what he was so excited about – he knew he wouldn't be having sex with Claire, or anything like that. He told himself that it would be a completely platonic meeting. It wouldn't be fair to anyone to make it be more than that. He still liked Savannah, as unlike Claire as she was, and he wasn't about to create more needless drama with a girl who didn't even attend Hogwarts.
Actually, because Claire did not attend Hogwarts, Sirius realized that nobody would ever know whether or not he "did" anything with her over the course of this Friday excursion. But he kept silent on the matter, not wanting to hear Remus's displeasure or James's hesitance to support anything that Lily might disapprove of.
The only person he could talk to was Audrey Granada, who, for whatever perverse reason, always understood where he was coming from.
"You're meeting up with Claire?" she repeated, amused. "Don't get her pregnant; Savannah might be a bit annoyed."
Sirius smiled tolerantly. "It's platonic. She's just in town and… we're friends. There's no reason not to meet up."
Audrey rolled her eyes and laughed a bit. "Don't pretend you're not still in love with her. And she probably still loves you, too."
Sirius stared at Audrey for a moment, reflecting, as always, on the inherent truth behind her words.
"I do love her, I guess," Sirius admitted. "But I mean… it's almost in the abstract, you know? I mean, I haven't talked to her in months. At this point it's more just… just…"
"…The idea of her?" Audrey put in. "The idea of that perfect girl who totally gets you and totally flirts with you and is so totally out of reach?"
He nodded. "Exactly!"
Audrey smiled at him sadly. "And that's why you really shouldn't do anything with her, Sirius," she said. "If you shatter that ideal, that concept, you'll just fall completely back in love with the real her, and then where will you be?"
He stared at her again. Per usual, Audrey Granada had hit the nail right on the head. It wasn't for Savannah, or anyone else, that he couldn't do anything more than talk to Claire – it was for himself. Hooking up with Claire would mean a guaranteed descent into inconvenient, mildly emo love.
And that was the last thing he wanted.
-
He was at the Hog's Head exactly on time, which was unlike him. Claire did not arrive right away; he remembered how unpunctual she was, and smiled, supremely unconcerned. He ordered a butterbeer and found a table near the back.
Claire sauntered in about ten minutes later. She was wearing a fitted off-white autumn coat and dark plaid scarf with thin strands of violet – the same violet as her eyes – visible in it. Her hair was back in a ponytail, her eyes were as bright as ever, and her high cheeks were flushed from the brisk wind. She looked just as beautiful as Sirius had remembered – only more so, because she looked exceedingly professional, too.
He stood up to catch her attention, and she saw him and grinned.
"Hi!" she said cheerfully, hurrying up to him.
"Hey," he replied casually, looking her up and down.
They smiled at one another, and Sirius was thrilled by how completely at ease he felt.
Claire leaned forward and kissed him once on each cheek.
"Per your postcard?" he asked lightly.
She nodded. "You can't do yours, though; it would violate the professionalism."
He nodded, too. "Unfortunate."
She grinned, and laughed. "Oh man… did I ever miss you!"
He grinned back. "I missed you too."
They smiled some more.
Sirius cleared his throat. "Well… let's sit down, shall we? You want a drink?"
She obliged, he ordered them a cocktail each, and they leaned back in their chairs to discuss their lives.
"Still pseudo-engaged to dear Hector?" Sirius inquired.
She rolled her eyes at him and smiled. "Yes. Yes, I am."
"And where is he right now?" Sirius asked. Not that he particularly cared.
Claire laughed. "Like you care! But he's in Paris."
Sirius nodded thoughtfully.
"How's Savannah Baron? Still going strong?"
Sirius shrugged. "I guess… but I mean, it's still pretty… school-y. There's no way it'll keep up after we leave Hogwarts."
Claire frowned. "Why not?" She shook one finger at him in disapproval. "Sirius! I thought you were going to find a girl who made you feel the same way I did!"
He grinned at her broadly, unable to stop himself. "Well, I've tried, but it's been more difficult than anyone would hope."
She giggled. "Try harder! I want you to be happy, Sirius!"
He raised one eyebrow. "Well, there are plenty of ways for you to help me with that, but supposedly we're keeping this professional."
Claire tried not to smile, but failed. "Sirius…" she began. But then she simply shook her head, took a sip of her cocktail, and observed, "I've really missed you."
He told her about his summer, about Tara and Evetta, about Savannah. As he had expected, Claire was far more amused than appalled.
"Sirius!" she exclaimed, laughing. "You're terrible! I always knew you were more manipulative than I was… I mean, I could never have gotten away with that much!"
He grinned. "I think there was a compliment in there somewhere."
She grinned back, her dimples showing. "Sure; why not?"
They talked about their futures, about his plans for after Hogwarts, about her plans for a career.
She pulled out his letter at one point. "Your letter made me laugh," she remarked. She skimmed over it, and asked, "Who's the weird friend I'd never expect?"
He looked her straight in the eyes and said, "You'll never guess."
She laughed easily. "There's no point in trying then; you should just tell me."
He nodded. "Alright: Audrey Granada."
Claire raised her eyebrows, taken aback. "Really? But she's such a… I mean, maybe she's changed, but…"
Sirius shrugged, and smiled. "She's insane. But I dunno, she makes me think about stuff. She really gets me, you know? I mean she's from the same background, I guess… but I don't know. It's kind of surreal."
Claire nodded slowly. "Very surreal. How on earth did you end up friends with Audrey Granada, Sirius? I thought you two were kind of… well, just that you would have absolutely no reason to talk to one another ever."
He nodded, too. "We had to be partners in Arithmancy, actually. And then… I dunno, we just got to talking. And now we're best friends! It's fun."
Claire laughed a bit. "Do you like her?"
He frowned. "Of course I like her."
Claire rolled her eyes. "No no, I mean, do you like her?"
He laughed easily. "Ah, gotcha. No – I mean, she's just… Audrey. She's not like any of the other girls – or boys, for that matter – at least around me. But it's not like she's… you or anything. She just sort of… doesn't judge me. It's nice. Different."
Claire nodded. "I mean, I've never been a big fan of hers, what with her trying to get with Hector a few times and all, but… I can see how that could be an amusing, ironic twist: you and me, her and Hector, sort of, and then the two of you become friends… you know?"
Sirius raised an eyebrow in exaggerated confusion, and Claire laughed and batted him on the arm. "You know what I mean!"
He grinned at her apologetically. "Yeah. I do. And I agree; the irony is so sickeningly obvious that we should've seen it coming."
Claire nodded again. "What do your friends say? And Savannah?"
Sirius frowned. "About Audrey?"
Claire nodded.
Sirius shrugged. "I don't know… I mean, they don't really know much about it. I don't really talk to them about her; I just… talk to her. About her. And me. And everything."
Claire smiled at him. "Well, that's something…"
They talked for hours, and drank remarkably little. Sirius felt that it was all an odd dream, a detour from the standard routine of Gryffindor life to spill everything to the only girl he'd ever loved.
When he returned to Hogwarts long past midnight, he was still reeling.
Talking to Claire had torn him out of the daydream he had been occupying. Talking to Audrey tended to do that, too, but while talking to Audrey left him introspective, talking to Claire left him immensely dissatisfied. Love was so transient, and he missed it. He was glad Audrey had pointed out that danger of hooking up with Claire: that it would drag him back into impossible love, and that this time around, it would be harder to escape.
Sirius had enough faith in his own charm to know that, had he really wanted to, he could have spent the entire night with Claire. But thankfully, he had managed to keep his wits about him – for he was abundantly aware that getting with Claire would have been emotional suicide.
He stumbled up to bed but then lay awake thinking about greater things than himself for several hours.
-
Hogsmeade the next morning could not have been more unfulfilling. Sirius sat with Savannah, James, Lily, Remus and Evetta Niall at the Three Broomsticks, listening to the classic banter about this, that and the next thing.
He wanted more.
He wanted love.
He wasn't sure why he was so damn emo when he hadn't even hooked up with Claire, but either way, he didn't like it. It was thoroughly unlike him. He felt the same way he had felt for the week after Hector had walked in on him and Claire: dispassionate, immune to flirting, and in something of a daze.
Why? he couldn't help but wonder. Why? Why can't I just get over myself and enjoy the day?
He said he was tired after the late night and left the Three Broomsticks, intending to go back up to the castle and perhaps take a nap – anything to chill the hell out.
He didn't get to nap – at least not as soon as he had intended.
He ran into Audrey Granada, who was walking into Gladrags with a group of friends. Feeling completely indifferent to Slytherin-Gryffindor antipathy, Sirius called, "Audrey!"
She looked up, surprised. They generally didn't talk to one another around their other friends. Audrey's companions looked equally perplexed.
"C'mere," he suggested, and she came over.
"What's up?" She peered at him curiously. "How was last night?"
He inhaled deeply, and then slowly exhaled. "Want to hear about it?"
She nodded, taking in his evident gloominess without comment. "Sure."
He nodded back. "Alright. Come up to the castle with me."
She hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Okay." She turned to her friends, called, "I'll meet up with you lot later!" and turned away with him toward the road back to Hogwarts.
He smiled slightly. "Whatever will your friends think?"
She shrugged. "Who cares?"
He grinned then. "Exactly."
She frowned. "Anyway, emo-boy, what on earth happened to you?"
He sighed. "I'm just… so fucking bored."
She raised her eyebrows. "Are you? Did Claire remind you of what it's like to be in love, or something?"
He nodded. "Yeah."
She clucked her tongue at him. "You didn't–"
He shook his head rapidly. "No, no, I'm not stupid. I knew what would have happened if I… if I'd done that."
She nodded. "Good. Well, it's probably only temporary then, right? You'll get over it in a few days and go right back to Savannah and that Gryffindor cheerfulness and all of that. Don't worry too much."
He smiled genuinely. Audrey tended to be correct about things, at least where he was concerned.
People were giving them curious looks as they walked down the street.
"Do people really not know that we're friends?" he observed, glancing around.
She shrugged. "Apparently not. I mean, we're sort of… inadvertently discreet, and after all, it is a bit unusual isn't it? But like I said before: who cares?"
He grinned broadly. "Absolutely no one."
They made it back to the castle, and then went up through the Gryffindor common room to his dormitory.
"The Gryffindor common room's pretty nice," she observed, "but I think our dormitories may be better. Though then again, it could be because I'm a girl."
They sat down on his four-poster. Sirius leaned back into the pillows and Audrey lay down next to him.
"I'm just… I don't know what to do. I just feel so entirely unfulfilled."
Audrey was silent for a moment. Then she said, "You sound so ridiculously emo. I don't think you quite get it. Get the hell over yourself, Sirius! This is not you! Your social life lacks nothing! If there's anything you're unhappy about, it's just that you're not as happy as you could be – so change it! Find what you need to be happy!"
He laughed hollowly. "You're an excellent motivational speaker."
She grinned up at the canopy. "Hey, I do my best."
He turned his head to look at her. Audrey Granada, the most unexpected friend in the world. Her dark hair was spread around her head on the pillow, and her short bangs curled over her forehead and slightly to the left. She was gazing at the canopy of his bed, and he admired her profile, her strong features. Audrey was undeniably pretty – but he never thought of her that way. She was just Audrey.
His Audrey.
"God, Audrey. It's absolutely ridiculous that we're friends."
She turned her head to smile at him. "But it's fun, isn't it?"
He nodded, his gray eyes inches from her dark brown ones. "Very."
They both turned back toward the canopy, and lay in silence for a few moments.
"Want to take a nap?" she suggested.
He nodded. "That sounds like an excellent idea."
They both sat up, and Sirius pulled back the comforter. Audrey slid underneath, and Sirius made himself comfortable next to her. He sighed, feeling exceptionally exhausted. Sleep was moments away.
-
He awoke to a very angry Savannah Baron saying in clipped tones, "Care to wake up any time soon?"
He opened his eyes. Outside, the sky was blending into hues of purple, red and gold as the sun set. Audrey stirred next to him, and glanced up at Savannah as well.
"We didn't do anything," she said quietly.
Sirius nodded. "Yeah, seriously. We just napped."
Savannah nodded, too, looking incredibly bitter. "Whatever. I know plenty about you, Audrey Granada. Don't even pretend to pull sincerity on me." She turned her gaze to Sirius. "Wow. Just, wow."
With that, she turned around and stomped out of the room.
"Sweet girl, that one," Audrey observed. "Think I should leave now?"
Sirius shrugged. "Yeah, probably. She'll come around, anyway. I'm not worried."
Audrey nodded. "Yeah. Well, let me know how that turns out."
He nodded, too. "I'll keep you informed."
Audrey climbed out of the bed and ran her fingers through her hair. She pulled on her shoes and started across the dormitory toward the door.
Remus and Peter burst in.
"Hey, Padfoot, why's Annie so–" Peter then caught sight of Audrey and raised his eyebrows in complete shock "–upset..." He stopped walking and stared from Audrey to Sirius and back again. "Wow. I mean, wow."
Audrey exhaled audibly in annoyance and said without enthusiasm, "It's all a misunderstanding."
Sirius nodded, and rolled his eyes. "Get over yourself, Wormtail; nothing happened."
Remus had said nothing. He, too, was looking from Sirius to Audrey in mild disbelief.
"See you around, Sirius," Audrey called, brushing past Peter and Remus and out of the room.
"Later," Sirius replied.
Remus and Peter watched the door click shut behind Audrey, and then turned to stare at Sirius.
"Um… are you going to explain?" Remus asked hesitantly.
Sirius shrugged, feeling almost annoyed. "Explain what?" he demanded. "We did absolutely nothing. She's my friend; we were talking. Not against the law, is it?"
Remus hesitated, then ventured, "Er… no offense, Sirius, but do you really expect us to believe–"
Sirius rolled his eyes, sick of this conversation already. However, he had managed to regain his poise. "Offense taken," he replied lightly, smiling a bit. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I feel I ought to go make sure Annie hasn't gotten the wrong impression of the situation."
He pulled on a new sweater, stepped into his shoes and brushed his teeth mechanically, all without speaking to Remus and Peter. Then he walked briskly out of the room, closing the door carefully behind him. He made his way down the dormitory stairs to the common room, where, just as he had expected, Annie was sitting, staring into the fireplace, her brow furrowed.
"Hey," he said, sitting down casually on the sofa next to her. She refused to look at him, so he continued, "Nothing happened. I mean… I suppose it looked a bit suspicious, but honestly… I would never cheat on you. And especially not with Audrey Granada."
Savannah looked away from the fire and met his eyes. Her own eyes were red, but dry, as if she had cried for a little while but then found solace and stopped.
"Funny… that's exactly what she said."
Sirius frowned. "Come again?"
Savannah frowned, too, but not angrily. "I mean… when Granada came downstairs, I was sitting here waiting for Lily to come back, and she came up, knelt down in front of me and said, 'Baron, you're being silly. He wouldn't cheat on you, especially not with me.'"
Sirius nodded. "Oh. Yeah, she's right. I wouldn't." To himself, he pondered why this might be. Did he respect Savannah's feelings too much? No, or else he wouldn't have let himself fall into such a compromising position with Audrey in the first place. Was he afraid of ruining his friendship with Audrey by taking things to the next level? No, he had never in his life felt that the end of an epic friendship was a sufficient deterrent to hooking up with a pretty girl.
He remembered something he had once said to Audrey, that day in the library when they had first got to talking and had realized they were destined for friendship.
"I've never managed to be 'just friends' with a girl before," he had informed her, bemused.
"I'll be the first, then," she had replied, without missing a beat.
So perhaps the reason he would never cheat on Savannah, especially not with Audrey, was because Audrey herself wouldn't let him. He almost frowned; this was not the reason he had been hoping for. It implied that, if not for Audrey's reluctance, he would be completely up for hooking up with her.
But really, if he was going purely off of testosterone, he would be up for it. Audrey was attractive and experienced. The part of him that would not allow himself to hook up with Audrey was the side she had been forcing out into the open, the side that recognized who he was and was disappointed by it. Hooking up with Audrey would be classic Sirius, would be the same Sirius who had forced Audrey to play the Mudblood at the Twelfth Promenade, who had misled Tara Nevan and used Evetta Niall and hurt Savannah Baron.
Suddenly, he didn't want to talk to Savannah. It felt like an utter waste of time. He wanted to go find Audrey and share this latest revelation with her.
He resolved to finish this matter as quickly as possible.
"I'm very sorry, Annie – really, I am," Sirius said. "But I mean… nothing happened. I guess it looked a little bit… weird… but it was completely innocent."
Savannah raised her eyebrows. "What happened, exactly? Tell me start to finish."
Sirius nodded. "Well… I was feeling sort of off down in the village, so I resolved to go up to the castle and take a nap. I ran into Audrey on the way up the road, and we started talking about… I don't know… lots of stuff."
"How often do you talk to Audrey Granada, Sirius?" Savannah asked, her voice wavering between curiosity and annoyance.
He shrugged, as if this were a matter of little importance. "Often enough. We were partners for that project, remember? And then we got to talking… we knew each other when we were little kids, see? She's not a… pure-blood fanatic or anything, so she's really just like an old family friend. We talk about things from… you know, 'back in the day.'"
Internally, Sirius briefly recapped this explanation, and decided that it sounded true enough, even if it had almost no relevance to his real relationship with Audrey.
Savannah looked immensely surprised. "I had no idea. Well, how did you end up asleep in the same bed?"
Sirius shrugged again. "Pretty easily. We were sort of chatting and went upstairs to look over some Arithmancy notes and then realized we were pretty tired and figured we'd sleep. We weren't… touching one another under the blankets or anything. We were each on our own side of the bed."
Savannah nodded slowly. "Sirius… you realize that that was pretty inconsiderate of you, right?"
He was about to shrug a third time, but caught himself at the last moment and nodded. "Yeah, I do. I'm sorry. I was just tired and not really thinking about… repercussions or anything, you know? But my intentions were completely innocent. And, I mean, so were Audrey's."
Savannah gave off a ghost of a smile. "I think you should spend less time with Audrey Granada and more with me, Sirius."
He nodded. "Okay." He was lying, though; there was no way he would want to – or, for that manner, be physically able to – stop talking to Audrey. He quirked one corner of his mouth into a smile and shook his hair out of his eyes. "Forgive me, then?"
Savannah giggled despite herself, and nodded. "I suppose. But… be more considerate."
Sirius smiled more fully. "Of course." He leaned forward expectantly. "Feel free to kiss me any time now."
Savannah laughed, leaned forward, and pecked him on the lips. Sirius sat back and grinned at her. "Anyway, I'm starving, and, unless I miss my guess, dinner already happened…"
Savannah smiled. "Yeah, and it was excellent. Pity you were asleep…"
He rolled his eyes and whined exaggeratedly, "Hey, you said you forgave me!" Internally, he groaned: he wanted to get out of here, he wanted to get out of here –
Savannah laughed again, shoved his arm playfully, and kissed him on the cheek.
Sirius smiled quickly. "On that note, I'm off to the Kitchens."
Sirius stood up, squeezed Savannah's hand and made his way toward the portrait hole.
-
Not much to his surprise, Audrey was already in the Kitchens, helping herself to French onion soup and hunks of baguette and being waited upon by several house elves. She had pulled her dark hair back in a low ponytail to keep it out of her face and she looked up when Sirius entered.
"Did she forgive you?"
Sirius nodded. "Of course."
Audrey nodded, too. "Of course," she repeated.
Sirius asked the nearest elf for some soup of his own, and sat down next to Audrey. They ate in silence for a few moments. Then Sirius spoke. "I was wondering… well, I mean, we both told her the same thing: that I wouldn't cheat on her, especially not with you. And, I mean… why is that?"
Audrey frowned in thought. "Because I wouldn't let you, maybe?"
He laughed despite himself. "That doesn't speak much of me, does it?"
She laughed a bit, too. "No, it doesn't."
He thought for a moment and then said, "Well… I don't know if I could let myself ever… do anything with you, because it would be like… like that side of me, you know? That old side."
Audrey nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, it would be. Or I mean… under present circumstances, it would be."
He laughed. "'Under present circumstances?' So later on, everything would be just peachy?"
She shrugged unconcernedly. "It's possible."
Again, they ate their soup without speaking for a few minutes. The only sound was the crunching of the baguette's crust as they took turns tearing off pieces.
"Do you think you'd… still not be judgmental if… you know… circumstances ever changed?" Sirius asked at length, thinking hard about how to word the question. He laughed halfheartedly. "That's such an unlike-me thing to say."
Audrey nodded thoughtfully. "I mean… there's not much to judge, is there? I'd judge you if I learned something new, but I already know you very well, you know? I appreciate your redeeming qualities and accept your flaws."
Sirius barked out a laugh. "And what gives you the right to do that, Audrey Granada?" he demanded – but pleasantly. "What on earth are you getting out of showing me how to be introspective? What's in it for you?"
Audrey turned to smile at him. "Everyone doesn't always need a reason for everything, now do they?"
Sirius tossed his hair out of his eyes and surveyed her with exaggerated critique. "Sure they do – ultimately, anyway." He leaned forward to stare at her piercingly. "Now you, Audrey, what's your motive?"
She laughed and shook her head. "I don't know! I just like you, I guess. You're more interesting than most of the people at this school, and you have that… that mystique, you know?"
He shook his head, too. "'Mystique?'"
She grinned at him then. "Sirius! You know exactly what I mean! You're this brooding, tall-dark-and-handsome man-slut who obviously suffers from repressed angst! Every girl is intrigued by that!"
He sat back and laughed. Though in retrospect it was quite obvious, this was not what he had been expecting. "So is it all a… a fun pastime for you, then?" He pouted out his lower lip exaggeratedly. "Really, Audrey, I thought you had a better reason for befriending me than being intrigued by my bad-boy sex appeal – intriguing as it may be."
Audrey laughed, too. "I do! I'm not that shallow! I don't think of it as a sex thing, Sirius; I think of it more as a… I don't know. You just seemed so willing to talk to me, and I didn't understand why… I mean, then I realized that we were basically the same… but, at first, it was just like… I don't know, I just like connecting with people!"
Sirius smiled gently. "No offense, but that doesn't seem very Slytherin of you, Audrey."
She grinned impishly. "Sure it does! It's only when you truly understand a person that you can manipulate them!"
He burst out laughing as she clapped her hands to her mouth in shock. "That's not what I meant! I'm not trying to manipulate you!"
He grinned at her. "I know, I know. You couldn't, anyway; I'm always the one who does the manipulating."
She eyed him shrewdly. "Oh, don't be so sure, Sirius. I'll bet I could manipulate you if I wanted to."
He grinned more broadly. "Do I detect a challenge?"
She laughed and set down her empty soup bowl; a house elf scurried over, grabbed it in both arms and rushed off to clean it.
"Well, would you like to make a challenge of it, Sirius?" she inquired politely, folding her hands in her lap.
He nodded fairly. "It could be entertaining… just so long as it's not…"
"–Malicious?" she put in. "Yeah, only positive manipulation."
He grinned. "Alright… well, how are we going to judge this?"
She grinned back. "Well, it'll be pretty obvious when I win."
He rolled his eyes. "Oh, sure… well, just for convention's sake, how do we measure when it's over?"
She frowned in thought. "Mmm… how about we have until the end of the weekend? And we'll each have an objective – something we're trying to get the other to do. And it needs to be something that we wouldn't do 'just because;' it needs to be something out of the ordinary. Something we wouldn't want to do otherwise."
He nodded. "Alright. But we can't tell one another what it is, right?"
She shook her head. "Of course not. But we'll write it down, alright?"
He nodded again. "Yeah. Oi!" He called the nearest house elf over. "Could you bring us two quills and two pieces of parchment?"
"Oh, certainly, sir!" the elf squeaked, rushing off for a few moments before returning with the requested items.
Sirius thought for a few moments about what he wanted to manipulate Audrey into doing. His first thought was to make her break some rule or… no, that wouldn't do.
Quite frankly, the only thing he could really see her not doing of her own volition – and he wasn't sure if this bothered him very much or not – was hooking up with him. But he couldn't hook up with Audrey purely as part of a game; it would be needlessly cruel to… Savannah or whatever.
He considered. Maybe he'd just manipulate her into kissing him. No sentiment behind the kiss, of course; he just wanted to see if she'd do it. She had just claimed earlier that she would never be down to hook up with him, and he had verified that he felt similarly.
Under present circumstances, anyway.
Sirius scrawled, "I want to manipulate her into kissing me" on his parchment and stuck it in his pocket.
As they stood up to leave the kitchens, he turned to look at her. "So how's the romance front, Audrey?" he inquired briskly. "Still getting with my brother, or are you over that?"
She rolled her eyes. "Long over it. I haven't hooked up with anyone since nearly two weeks ago… haven't been feeling it, you know?"
He nodded. "That can happen."
He opened the painting for her and gestured her outside into the empty corridor. "I'll walk you to your common room?" he suggested.
She laughed a bit. "That would be simply charming."
They walked side by side down the hall.
"Savannah says she doesn't want me spending time with you anymore," he remarked.
Audrey frowned. "Even though we didn't do anything? Well… I suppose that's reasonable. But you're failing dreadfully; aren't you ashamed?"
Then she grinned at him to show that she was kidding. Sirius laughed.
"Not ashamed at all. I'll hang out with whomever I like."
They went down several staircases until they reached the dungeon where the Slytherin common room lay.
"Well… good night," said Audrey, turning to smile at him. Her dark eyes shown in the dim torchlight of the passageway.
Sirius grinned mischievously at her, and, with a rush of good-humored flirtatious fun, leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek.
Audrey's eyes widened, and she burst out laughing. "But I didn't need to manipulate you at all!"
Sirius laughed on instinct but then caught himself. "What?"
She pulled out her own slip of parchment, unfolded it and handed it to him.
Scrawled in perfect pureblood calligraphy were the words, "Get him to kiss me."
Sirius laughed and laughed then. He pulled out his own sheet of parchment and handed it to her.
Audrey read it, and her eyes widened again. "Are you kidding me?" she demanded. She looked up at him, smirked, and without hesitation threw her arms around his neck, pressing her lips firmly against his.
It was a very chaste kiss, and after a moment Audrey pulled away.
"I still won, though," she said airily. With that, she turned to go.
Sirius burst out laughing again and grabbed her arm. "Audrey!"
She raised one eyebrow. "What?"
He leaned forward and kissed her on the lips again. This time, it was a bit less chaste; he brought one hand down to her waist and pulled her more securely toward him. He ran his tongue out to touch her lips and Audrey, perhaps by instinct more than consciously, opened her mouth.
It went on for a few more moments before they both pulled away and stared at one another, surprised.
"We are so bad," Audrey breathed.
Sirius quirked one corner of his mouth into a grin. "Not at kissing, though."
She nodded, wide-eyed. "This is true."
On that ambiguous note, she turned, spoke the Slytherin password, and opened the door that appeared to her common room.
Sirius stared at the stone wall that replaced the door after she had closed it. The torch light flickered across the hall, painting shadows on the stones.
He wasn't sure what he had just done, but for some reason, his head felt remarkably clear.
Without further ado, he turned on his heel to walk back up toward the Gryffindor common room, his head spinning with curiosity of what would happen tomorrow.
For some odd reason, he could hardly wait to find out.
---
Reviews!
Thanks to MaraudingChick, beckers123, Nicoley117-LadyBlueMartini, Freja Lercke-Falkenborg, Ginny-and-Draco-fan, Paddie'sGirl, Potpoury and swee T!
A special thanks to PuckyChops, because when you left that last review it motivated me to go write this chapter!
A/N: The next chapter will be up eventually… probably sooner than this last one, since school is nearly out! Its title will be "Sordid Scandal." And it will be sordid. And scandalous.
And I'm truly sorry this took so long, but I can't write good fanfiction unless I'm in the right mood…
Love,
Simone