1Summary: 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: M!
Disclaimer: See Chapter One.
A/N: It's been a while, hasn't it? But see, I never stop!
Chapter Thirteen
Sordid Scandal
Sirius awoke uncharacteristically early on Sunday morning. James had scheduled Quidditch practice from 10:00 A.M. to noon, explaining that Audrey had already booked the pitch for Slytherin in the late afternoon, but other than that, there was nothing planned for the day.
Thinking of Audrey made Sirius muse over the events of the previous night. He was rather amused that Audrey had so easily consented to kiss him. As he stretched and contemplated taking a quick shower, he realized he knew exactly what he wanted to do this morning: flirtatiously torment Audrey Granada.
He wanted to act like last night had been a glitch, like he really had no interest. He wasn't sure why; Audrey would undoubtedly see right through him. But regardless of the logic, Sirius knew that he had to see Audrey, and he had to see her soon.
So, after a cold shower, and with his roommates still only stirring awake, Sirius strolled out of his dormitory and into the common room.
As he reached the portrait hole, he heard a voice behind him call cheerfully, "Hey!"
Turning, he saw Savannah Baron, also up early, her hair freshly blown dry and clipped back.
Well, super, he thought sarcastically. He still wasn't sure why, but he felt thoroughly unenthused at the prospect of Savannah Baron – of talking to her, of eating breakfast with her, even of having sex with her.
"Good morning," he replied casually. He allowed her to kiss him briefly in greeting, but then turned and pushed open the portrait onto the seventh floor corridor. He and Savannah walked in relative silence down toward the Great Hall. Sirius realized that it was not just him; Savannah was probably still a bit angry with him, despite having consented to forgiving him the night before.
"Why didn't you come up to see me last night when you got back from the kitchens?" she asked presently.
He frowned, searching for a plausible answer. "I was tired," he ventured.
She barked out a skeptical laugh. "Even with that long nap?"
Sirius refused to give a shit. "Yep." He paused for a moment and then added, "And it's done me good; look how early I've gotten up!"
Savannah barely chuckled.
They had reached the Great Hall. Very few people were there; it was still not even eight o'clock. They sat down next to each other but still said little. Savannah perused the morning paper and drank a glass of orange juice while Sirius shoved around his fried potatoes.
Things livened up a bit at Quidditch practice, where the endorphins put everyone into a better mood. After a rousing two hours of flying, Sirius found Savannah beckoning to him in the locker room as the rest of the team finish showering and dressing and headed up to the castle for lunch. When he came over, she smiled prettily at him, grasped his hands and pulled him back through the door of the equipment room. Sirius grinned, too, any sincere feelings he could have experienced instantly eclipsed by his hormones. In the dim light, surrounded by spare balls and bats, he pushed Savannah against the wall and kissed her hungrily.
When they both stopped for breath, now several layers of clothing lighter, Sirius grinned at her. "I've never had sex in here before," he remarked. This, at least, was true; he'd had sex in several other parts of the locker rooms, but never this particular closet.
Savannah grinned back at him and trailed a hand down his stomach and then slipped it through the fly of his boxers. "Me neither."
When they emerged from the locker room ten minutes later, looking quite disheveled, Sirius took her hand instinctively. They strolled up toward the Great Hall happily, joking and laughing.
When the entered the foyer, however, Sirius caught a glimpse of Audrey, her back to them, moving away down the corridor; evidently she had just finished lunch.
Forgetting Savannah entirely, Sirius told her he had to go up to his dormitory. "I'll meet you at lunch in a bit," he said vaguely, kissing her on the cheek, quirking one corner of his mouth into a grin, and heading on his way up the hall.
"Wha – okay," Savannah called after him. She watched him for a moment or two and then turned toward the marble staircase that led down to the house tables.
Sirius caught up with Audrey easily. He sidled up alongside her and said, "Why, hello…"
Audrey turned to look at him and smiled. "Hey. Having a nice day?"
He grinned. "It just got a lot better."
She raised one eyebrow. "What on earth are you trying to play at?"
Sirius laughed. "Nothing."
She smiled at him. "Stop flirting with me."
He shrugged. "Why should I?"
She shook her head. "Because I don't like you like that." But she could not contain a slight grin.
Sirius pretended to look highly affronted. "WHAT?! Why on earth not?"
Now, she shrugged. "You wouldn't be good for me. Besides, I'm trying to return to my lost innocence."
He laughed a third time. "What on earth are you talking about?"
She smiled at him. "When I first started here, I was the sweetest little kid you could imagine. I had two older brothers, one two years older and one three. I used to hang around with them all the time; they always included me in everything. I'd go to their parties, hang out with their friends…"
Sirius grinned at her; Audrey was usually more into talking about his troubled past than talking about her own charming one.
"And then what happened?" he asked cheerfully. "When did you turn into a total pimp?"
She laughed easily, now. "When Damien graduated – he's the older one, see – it really got the ball rolling. I mean before, he'd always let me come and kick it with his friends, but Sebastian was the one who didn't give a shit what I did... Damien was protective, as any older brother should be, but Sebastian encouraged me to do whatever I wanted and didn't mind if his friends fell all over me."
Sirius looked at her, exaggeratedly solemn. "And did you appreciate this?"
Audrey laughed again. "Sure I appreciated it. Though in retrospect I think I'd be a lot less promiscuous if he'd kept standards about him."
"Who was the first person you fucked?" Sirius asked bluntly. He knew it sounded harsh, but he meant it in the most innocently curious possible way.
"This kid Henry Baddock, friend of Sebastian's, used to come visit us in the summers…" she trailed off, suddenly looking somewhat upset.
"What's up?" Sirius inquired.
She frowned a bit. "He's just a bit of a disappointment, is all… very against Muggle borns and all of that. The last time I talked to him he told me all about the Death Eaters and how super they are…"
Sirius winced. "Don't start."
Audrey smiled kindly. "I didn't take too well to it; I'm not a huge fan of subservience, and I've seen what the toujours pur upbringing can do to a kid…"
Sirius nodded frankly. "Fucks him up, to be sure."
-
As the next week passed, Sirius felt himself becoming more and more perplexed by what he was hoping to achieve – in life, in friends, in everything. He knew Savannah was not entirely happy with him; he had spent very little time with her all week – apart from having sex with her several times a day. But he wouldn't have been so superficial if Savannah hadn't almost encouraged it; indeed, she seemed to have turned into nothing short of a nymphomaniac recently, pulling him off with her during study breaks, after Quidditch practices, and, if he was in his room at the appropriate time, just before bed.
On Friday afternoon, Sirius left charms with James, planning to sneak into Hogsmeade to procure liquor for that night, when Savannah came up beside him (he hadn't talked to her yet that day) and placing her hand gently on his arm murmured, "Come here a moment."
She pulled at his arm slightly as he glanced over at James, who raised his eyebrows. Sirius turned back to Savannah. "Can we meet up later? I told James I'd sneak down to the village with him to get some drinks for later."
Savannah opened her mouth for a moment, but then closed it. Her eyes narrowed imperceptibly. "Fine."
With that, she turned on her heel and headed off down the corridor.
As he made his way down a nearby staircase with James, Sirius decided to put the moment out of his mind. James, however, had other ideas.
"What was that about?" he asked innocently.
Sirius barked out a laugh. "You know damn well."
James grinned at once. "I'm sorry, but didn't you two go shag during lunch break?"
Sirius shrugged, and smiled a bit despite himself. "Might've."
"Why's she so desperate for it?" James demanded pleasantly. "I always coined you as horrible in bed."
Sirius laughed again. "Who knows, mate. But I'm not complaining."
No, he wasn't complaining, but he was also curious as to why Savannah had abandoned all pretenses of romanticism and was now content to simply fuck him a ever turn. Indeed, during lunch break she had actually pulled him into a deserted classroom, locked the door and moaned into his neck something akin to, "Oh god, Sirius, I need it now."
Being the gentleman that he was, he had consented at once.
But still…
He had spent much of his free time in the week with either his male friends or Audrey Granada, who laughed about Savannah's sex drive and informed him – flirtatiously or otherwise, he couldn't decide – that she hadn't been laid in nearly two months.
When he and James returned from Hogsmeade an hour later, it was nearly time to prepare for dinner; Sirius entered the common room to find Lily reading a book. Encouraged by one nod of James's, Sirius approached her.
"Hey Lily, have you seen Annie?"
Lily looked up. "Yeah, she's up in our dormitory. Want me to go get her?"
Sirius nodded. "That would be fabulous."
When Savannah arrived downstairs a few minutes later, Sirius grinned at her. "Want to go for a walk before dinner?" he suggested.
Savannah nodded, and smiled. James went to sit beside Lily while Sirius ushered Savannah out of the portrait hole and into the corridor beyond.
They walked up several floors, but seemed to have run out of things to talk about. It would have almost been awkward – except Sirius had always felt indifferent to awkwardness. This was about sex; nothing more. When the reached a deserted classroom he did the honors, holding the door for her and locking it behind them, and then he smirked flirtatiously, conjured several cushions for the ground, and pushed Savannah playfully onto them.
As he undid her jeans and pulled them off, he couldn't help but grin. "Wow, the last time we did this was a whole five hours ago."
Savannah giggled. "Whatever. It's fun."
Sirius nodded. "Definitely."
They had nearly stopped bothering with foreplay by this point in the week; pants off, and they were good to go. Sirius knew it was wrong on paper, but Savannah seemed to enjoy it so much…
There was no way he would let himself feel guilty for no longer caring about her.
-
The next weekend was the first Quidditch match of the season: Gryffindor versus Slytherin. Audrey teased Sirius about her team's readiness and his brother's skill as a Seeker, but Sirius laughed her off and said he couldn't wait to see her in tears after the match.
They were sitting in the library at the time, sharing a table and half-heartedly reading their Arithmancy books. The match was scheduled for the next morning. Audrey was wearing her Slytherin captain's badge on her dark green sweater and a pair of black horn-rimmed reading glasses. Her dark hair was held back on each side with narrow brown bobby pins. She looked deceptively studious.
"Maybe you can come to our celebration party after the match," Sirius suggested, grinning at her.
Audrey smirked at him. "You mean solidarity-of-loss party, right?" she countered at once. "And no, I think I'd rather celebrate than mope around and cry."
Sirius grinned more broadly. "Just because you're wearing cute glasses doesn't mean you can vanish into a fantasy world," he remarked sagely.
Audrey burst out a laugh. "That doesn't even make sense!"
He shrugged. "Does anything?"
Audrey rolled her eyes.
At that moment, James rounded the corner and said, sharply, "Sirius!"
Sirius turned around. "Oh, hey," he said easily. "I'm just talking shit to the other team, you know?"
James looked surprisingly angry. "I hope you didn't tell her anything about our offensive strategy," he said through grated teeth.
"Of course not, Potter," Audrey put in. "Though, it's not like it'd be any use; our defense would flatten your offense any day."
James glowered at her. "You won't be so cocky when you lose," he remarked.
Audrey raised one eyebrow. "Just because you're wearing cute glasses doesn't mean you can vanish into a fantasy world," she replied lightly.
Despite himself, Sirius began to laugh. James looked furious.
"That doesn't even make sense, Granada," he sad icily.
Sirius struggled to stop laughing. "No… it's just… Prongs, don't… don't worry about it…"
James now glared at Sirius. "Padfoot, you had better shape the hell up before tomorrow morning!"
Sirius stopped laughing abruptly and looked up at him. "What's with you?"
James paused for a moment and then said, "Sorry to interrupt this little love fest, but come with me a moment."
Sirius glanced briefly at Audrey, shrugged, and followed James around the corner and through the shelves until they were well enough away.
"What?" he demanded point blank.
James narrowed his eyes. "Sirius, it's one thing for you to be friends with Granada, but it's another thing for you to consort with her the evening before an important match! It's obvious what she wants, isn't it?" When Sirius didn't say anything James continued, "She wants to beat us at Quidditch, and she'll do everything in her power to make you bend to her will and let her do it!"
Sirius raised one eyebrow. "Somehow I doubt that," he said.
"Why?" James retorted. "You know you can never trust a Slytherin!"
Sirius shrugged one shoulder. Without really thinking about it, he replied, "Sometimes you have to."
James reeled back exaggeratedly. "What? What on earth are you talking about?" He seemed to calm down for a moment, and then continued, more rationally, "Listen, mate, it's the night before a match. Why can't you just be like everyone else on the team and treat the Slytherins like utter shit?" He paused for emphasis. "Doesn't it seem inappropriate for you to spend the whole evening flirting with their captain?"
Sirius was about to smile, but caught himself. "No, of course, you're right," he replied after a ways.
James nodded. "Good. Now come on, let's get back up to the common room… Oh, and Annie was looking for you earlier; you might want to go find her…"
Sirius snorted. "I wonder why."
James shrugged. "It's better than Lily, mate. She still won't consent to date me. Once a week or so we'll have some amazing moment where we totally connect and we'll end up snogging and all of that, but the next morning, it's like nothing's happened. She tells me she's still not ready. Can you believe that?"
Sirius quirked one corner of his mouth into a sympathetic smile. "She's probably just trying to drive you crazy… make it all the better when she finally gives in…"
-
The day of the match was perfect; the sky was blue and the leaves of the trees in the Forbidden Forest were golden. Sirius awoke and ate breakfast with the rest of the team, then set out to the pitch ahead of the school.
The match started out stressful but ended remarkably well: the Slytherin Chasers seemed to have improved since the previous year, and the score remained remarkably close for nearly an hour. Sirius swung his bat left and right, taking marked pleasure in hitting bludgers at Regulus and grinning at her when he sent them toward Audrey.
Finally, with the score marked at 100 to 80, Slytherin, Regulus and Ambrose Adams, the Gryffindor Seeker, went into spectacular dives. As Regulus pulled ahead, Sirius caught site of a bludger spiraling toward him. Taking careful aim, he whacked it straight at Regulus.
As Regulus did a barrel role to avoid the oncoming bludger, Ambrose pulled ahead and swiped at the Snitch.
As he rose moments later, the tiny ball clasped tightly in his left hand, the Gryffindor fans let out a roar of delight. Sirius flew to the center of the pitch with the rest of the team, all of them cheering and slapping Ambrose on the back in delight. Savannah grinned at Sirius, but he hardly noticed; beyond her, he had caught sight of Audrey, looking around dejectedly at her team as they landed with bowed heads on the trampled grass.
Though she was many yards away, Sirius managed to catch Audrey's eye. She gave a one-shouldered shrug of defeat and started up the lawn with the others.
Sirius glanced around at his team, now embracing each other in congratulations, and then back toward the Slytherins. He couldn't explain why, but, even though he knew that there would be a fantastic party in the common room in mere moments, but he wanted to see Audrey.
As the Gryffindor team made its way up the lawn ten minutes later, Sirius caught site of Audrey as she exited the locker rooms, broomstick over her shoulder, hair pulled back in a simple French braid. She paused at the locker room entrance to let the Gryffindors all pass.
With shouts of joy still emanating around him, Sirius found it quite easy to step away and fall back. He approached Audrey.
"Hey," he said brightly.
She raised one eyebrow at him. "Hey." She paused for a moment and then added, "Er… good game. Way to hit that last bludger and crush all of my hopes and dreams…"
Then she smiled at him to show that she was kidding, sort of.
Sirius grinned at her; he couldn't help it.
"Where's the rest of your team?" he asked.
"Still changing," she said. "But they'll be up soon enough."
He nodded. "Where are you heading now?"
She raised both eyebrows at him this time. "Where do you think? My common room, of course."
He nodded again. "Can I come?"
She looked taken aback. "Are you joking? Why don't you go celebrate with your team?"
He shrugged idly. "I'd rather consolidate with you."
She barked out a laugh. "'Consolidate?'"
He smiled at her. "Sounds suggestive, doesn't it?"
Audrey nodded, smiling happily. Then she switched her air and considered him haughtily.
"I suppose you could come over briefly… though, I can't tell too well outside, but you probably smell awful… and I'm sure you'll want to go to your own party soon…"
"I don't want to see your team, of course," Sirius added, just to clarify. "I still hate them."
Audrey smiled despite herself. "Of course. Well, I suppose if you really must come…"
So together, ahead of the Slytherin team but behind the Gryffindors, they made their way through the castle and down several staircases until they reached the dungeons. As they rounded one of the last bends toward the entrance to the Slytherin common room, Sirius reached over and took Audrey's hand. She looked up at him, surprise mingled with bemusement etched on her face.
They entered the Slytherin common room, which was nearly empty; with no party to attend, most of the Slytherins seemed to have found better ways to occupy their time.
The few that sat around the fire glanced toward Sirius as he entered the portrait hole, his Gryffindor Quidditch robes standing out starkly in the greenish light.
Audrey surveyed the watchers indifferently and tightened her hold on Sirius's hand. He grinned and ignored the Slytherins, too, concentrating only on Audrey, the only person he cared about.
They found their way down a set of stairs to Audrey's dormitory – she told him to skip every third step, in order to avoid the anti-boy charms that would block him from entering – and made their way inside.
By this point, Audrey was all Sirius could see. As soon as the door closed, he stepped up to her, grabbed her playfully about the waist, and kissed her soundly.
All thoughts of Quidditch, of Gryffindor, of Savannah, of anything else in the world vanished as he kissed Audrey more and more passionately. She pulled him back toward what must have been her bed and he pushed her down onto it, kissing her all the while. He couldn't stop; it was addictive. Weeks of Savannah Baron had left him deprived, and he needed Audrey right then and there.
-
Some time later, Sirius lay back to gaze at the canopy as Audrey entwined one of her legs between his and rested her head on his chest.
"Can't say I've ever done anything like this in a Slytherin dormitory before," he observed lightly.
Audrey laughed gently. "There's a first time for everything."
He nodded. "Mmm…" He glanced around the room for the first time, taking in the dark green velvet draperies, the ornate silver candleholders, the dark stained woodwork. The Slytherin dormitories were beautiful, to be sure – but it was the formal beauty he had grown up with, full of the old engravings that had adorned many of the manors in which he had spent his youth. He couldn't help but want to hate it for its antiquity; to him, antiquity of design was intrinsically linked with antiquity of thought: purism, elitism, and rigid social hierarchy.
"This place is so familiar," he murmured. "I've never been here, and yet it's familiar." He smiled. "I feel like I should hate it, but under the present circumstances I can't quite pull it off."
Audrey smiled, too. "They say that the Slytherin dormitories are the oldest, being in the dungeons, and all… They were built first, furnished first. The woodwork is centuries old."
Sirius laughed hollowly. "Frankly, I don't give a rat's arse."
Audrey grinned, and tilted her head up to kiss him gently on the lips. "Don't get defensive; I'm just relaying the information. When I was a first-year and came up to the dormitories after the feast, the Prefects lectured us on all of the architectural history."
Sirius sighed slightly, though he wasn't sure why. "I remember being sorted," he said slowly. "It was probably one of the worst moments of my life." He smiled, then. "It got a lot better, though. A lot better."
Audrey gave him one of the most affectionate glances he had ever received, and buried her face in his chest. "I adore you for that," she murmured, her voice muffled by the fabric of his T-shirt. She looked up into his face again, her chin resting on his chest. Her dark hair fell slightly into her dark eyes, and he lifted a hand to brush it away. He found himself unable to break her gaze. In the dim light, Audrey's eyes were nearly black, her dark lashes curling upward appealing.
He was experiencing a deja vu. It took him a moment to place it, but then he inhaled and exhaled slowly, still not breaking Audrey's gaze as she rose and fell slightly on his chest. Then he smiled despite himself, even though the memory was painful.
"We've done this before," he said.
She thought for a brief moment and then nodded slowly. "At the Twelfth Promenade?"
He nodded, too. "Yeah. Only it was–" he winced almost unconsciously "–because you were so hurt. By me. And that… that game, or whatever the hell we were calling it."
She nodded again. "Yeah…" She sighed deeply, and narrowed her eyes slightly. "Your eyes are so silver. They were then, too. It's that same sort of lighting – they catch the flare off the candles, so they're more than just gray."
He grinned at her, then. "God forbid they should be just gray…"
She grinned back, and he was delighted because he felt that, with that grin, she forgave him completely for all he had done and all he regretted.
He ran his hands around her waist to pull her closer to him, until she was close enough for him to kiss her. Then he did, and he didn't stop until she pulled back, gasping,
"At least let me breath, Sirius!"
Sirius grinned and lay back, his arms crossed behind his head, to look at her. Audrey straddled him and smiled, pulling her dark hair back in a ponytail.
He wanted to tell her about the Sorting. He wasn't sure why at first, but it occurred to him that he had never told anybody about his experience of it before; the Marauders did not need to know how naïve and corrupted he had continued to be at that moment, and his family would not have listened.
But Audrey would understand.
"The hat took ages to sort me," Sirius said, moving one arm from behind his head to take her hand. "I kept demanding that it put me in Slytherin, and it kept almost doing it. I was such a cocky git – on the train I met James and started to get a bit mixed up, but I'd spent the entire ride to King's Cross with Bella and the rest, and they all kept telling me what a fabulous night it was going to be, and everything down to details about how the Slytherin dormitories were the best, the oldest, the most beautiful architecturally…"
Audrey quirked her lips into a smile and ran one finger gently down his chest.
"I'll bet you were excited," she observed kindly. "All of those beautiful, cool older cousins of yours? You probably couldn't wait."
He nodded. "Yeah… and then we got to the hall, and I was standing there in line and over at the Slytherin table Bella kept giving me a reassuring smile…" He suddenly groaned. "You have no idea how much I always worshiped my cousins. Before I had other friends, see… it was all of the family. And we were all such kids… the older ones just seemed so much cooler, you know?"
Audrey nodded. "I remember at parties, I was always a bit intimidated by them. Well – Bella, at least. She's always been so… well, you know: loud and beautiful and just… intense."
Sirius nodded again. "I know it." Suddenly he couldn't help but groan. All this talk of family – the one thing he never talked about. The one subject he had avoided for neigh-on six years. And here he was, wearing boxers and a T-shirt in a Slytherin girls' dormitory, reminiscing about his cousins.
Audrey smiled at him kindly. "Sirius, you don't need to talk about it if you don't want to… though, really, I can't help but think that you do want to…"
He gave her a grim look. "And why is that, Audrey?" he demanded, quite frankly curious.
She frowned. "Because you need to explain yourself. You need to justify to me – and yourself, as well – why you're happy with how everything has panned out."
He thought for a moment, and then grinned broadly at her. "Exactly!" He then leaned back into the pillows and reconsidered. "I'm happy, but I mean… I get bored, you know? When I'm not with you, or with, say, James, I'm just bored: school's a breeze, life's a breeze, and I've blocked out anything that could possibly cause me emotional unrest. All I have left to feel is… boredom."
Audrey nodded but frowned, looking at him closely. "That's so conceited of you. You're not too good for it, you know."
He shrugged. "I know I'm not too good for it, I just… I don't know, sometimes everyone else just seems so naïve… almost like I was before I came here. They understand things on this whole other level, and it's a much lower level, too. I mean… I don't think I could possibly care less about school – the academics, the social hierarchy, any of it. It's all just so petty and unimportant."
Audrey nodded again and looked away from him at the dark green hangings. "Of course it is," she said quietly. "Anyone thinking objectively can tell that." She then turned back to meet his gaze. "But you also understand that you have the luxury of not caring, don't you, Sirius? It's true you've had more… emotional growth than most of the people here, but it's also true that you always would have been smart enough to not worry about class and good-looking and charming enough to not worry about your social life."
Sirius shrugged again. "Probably. But it all amounts to the same thing, doesn't it? I only care about things that will last. Namely, I care about my friends because they'll always be there for me, long after school is good and done."
Audrey nodded a third time. "Naturally. So what do you want, Sirius?"
He gazed up at her, feeling the words form as he considered the answer to her question. "I want to get out of here and do something amazing. I want to do the complete opposite of everything my parents did. I want to prove to myself that I'm not like them."
As he said the words he knew they were completely true. Funny how everything he did ultimately amounted to that: his drive to escape his past.
And yet here he was, lying in a Slytherin girls' dormitory and technically cheating on his girlfriend because he still didn't have enough empathy to give a shit.
Audrey bit her lip for a moment. Sirius was sure she was thinking the same thing as he was.
"I don't know why, but I just can't quite muster up the compassion to care about people who don't understand me," Sirius said. "I suppose it's because I'm only loyal when I know people will be always be loyal back, you know?"
"You trust hardly anyone," Audrey agreed, nodding.
Sirius nodded too. She looked so beautiful, still straddling him, one strap of her lacy green tank top sliding off of her right shoulder. Then he realized that he trusted Audrey Granada with all his heart, and, for the first time, the thought scared him.
"Audrey…" he gasped huskily, sitting up suddenly to grasp her around the waist and kiss her roughly, passionately. This was the only way he could assuage that sudden fear that came with realizing he had involuntarily left himself vulnerable to another person. At that moment, he realized that he needed Audrey more than she needed him, and the idea of suddenly not being in control made him strive to regain whatever power he might have had – not in a malicious way, but simply in a self-comforting way.
He ran a hand up under her shirt (she was wearing no bra) and spun his fingers here and there until she sighed slightly and kissed him more passionately still, grinding her hips down into his lap. Sirius pushed her down on the bed and trailed his fingers around the edge of her lacy underwear, more and more slowly until Audrey moaned, "Stop teasing me!"
He then pulled her panties completely off and leaned forward to kiss her just below her navel. He smiled up at her. Audrey was breathing heavily and looked enormously disheveled. Her dark eyes shined in the dim light more than ever.
Sirius buried his face between her legs and began doing things with his tongue, making Audrey sigh and grip at the bedcovers. He waited until she could hardly stand it and then pulled away, kissing her up along her stomach and smiling at her coquettishly as she cried, "Sirius, you can't just stop!"
She groped for the fly of his boxers, inclining her hips to rub herself against him. Sirius gasped slightly, reneging on his earlier plan to hold out, and allowed Audrey to get his pants half off. She wrapped her legs around him just below the waist and gazed into his eyes, breathing hard. "Please, Sirius…"
She trailed off and closed her eyes as he acquiesced, thrusting into her faster and faster but not letting himself go entirely until Audrey cried out in her final pleasure.
So that was really all he could do, he thought resignedly as he lay there with her after: use sex to reassure himself that Audrey would always be loyal to him, and allow himself to get lost in her.
He wasn't sure if he loved her, exactly. His relationship with her was so different from that he had had with any other girl. He felt that he could have fallen in love with her if he could only allow himself the chance, but as it was, he could not quite bring himself to throw caution to the winds, give himself up and enter that state of mind.
Not yet, anyway.
-
At dinnertime, when he and Audrey finally left her dormitory to find something to eat upstairs, he found that news had spread. Savannah was heartbroken, James was furious with him, and the whole school seemed unable to contain itself: Sirius Black had skipped his own house's celebration to fuck an opposing Quidditch captain in an enemy dormitory.
Ohhh, the scandal.
"How do they even know we did anything?" Audrey muttered to him as they entered the Great Hall to find a majority of the eyes on them.
"Clearly your little Slytherin friends jumped to conclusions," Sirius replied. "I mean, all we did was talk…"
Audrey couldn't help but grin. "It's going to be an interesting couple of days," she remarked, patting him on the shoulder before heading off toward the Slytherin table.
Sirius smiled briefly, and then glanced over at the Gryffindor table, where Savannah was avoiding looking at him and James was openly glaring at him.
Audrey was right: it would definitely be an interesting couple of days.
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Reviews!
Thanks to Elin, MaraudingChick, dixio, Potpoury, Camelia Sinensis, Nicoley117-LadyBlueMartini, EverybodysWearingBlueJeans and Freja Lercke-Falkeborg for reviewing the last chapter! Also thanks to Ending of the World!
Kelly – indeed, I did create Claire with that in mind :)
Love you all!
-Simone