Chapter two, First Sight
A/N: Wow, three chapters in four days, not a lot, considering what I normally write, but still. Right, you're probably wondering how the hell the first chapter and the prologue connect, but (hopefully) it will become clearer as E.H.T.S. continues. So, here is First Sight, where you finally get to meet my 'Sex God' of Hogwarts. This is written in third person but sways towards Sirius, so you'll get to hear what he's feeling when he first sets eyes on a certain mysterious black-haired woman.
Disclaimer: If I was J.K, I probably wouldn't be writing on but you never know. I own nothing but Celia and some other characters that aren't in it yet but will be.
Amythestpony: Maybe she will, maybe she won't. But you find out in this chapter, so get reading!
Sorry, it's a bit of a long chapter, but I just couldn't stop my fingers typing.
13th September,
"Wha' haff yun get nuct?" James mumbled, his head bowed low over his plate to catch any morsels of food making a courageous- but futile- bid for freedom. "Patfud?"
Sirius Black was lounging casually in his seat, eyes vacant, as usual not touching a scrap of the breakfast food in front of him. Mountains of mushrooms, piles of bacon and stacks of toast surrounded him on every side, the combined aroma triggering reactions from everybody else in the room with the alluring scent, yet he gave no notice to the food, even though it was clear that he hadn't eaten since the previous night (as James had remarked, before stuffing his mouth with food; "Your stomach's deafening me, Sirius, for the love of good, eat something!") "Honestly Sirius," Remus Lupin said quietly, spearing a slice of expertly diced Alaskan sausage on his forks and placing it delicately into his mouth with the care that comes from a more than sophisticated upbringing. "I have no idea what it is with this whole not eating in the morning thing, it's just going to make you ill." His educated voice was ridden with disapproval at his friend's behaviour.
Sirius pouted, flicking his black hair out of his dark eyes impatiently- several girls at the Hufflepuff table sighed admiringly- Lupin snorted; not a full day back at school and already the girls were pining after his friend.
"Make me, Sirius Black, ill?" He said in disbelief, mock outrage etched onto his features. "You words wound me to the heart, Moony!" He swooned and fell into Lily's lap; James scowled. Sirius laughed at his expression.
"Ah, get a hold of yourself, Prongs, you know she's not my type." He grinned and winked up at Lily who, despite being surprised and annoyed at Sirius landing unexpectedly on her lap (many of the female students had hissed with envy at this moment- most shared the dream of the rebellious Black flinging himself at them) she fought in vain to hide the smile creeping onto her lips.
"Oh that's right," Remus muttered sarcastically, but grinning like a loon anyway. "We forgot you prefer the other type- the ones that don't have half a brain cell between them to and faint every time you so much as look their way."
"So pretty much ever other girl in the whole school, then." James roared with laughter, his mood now even brighter as Lily dumped Sirius' head off her lap unceremoniously, so it hit the bench with a thud.
"Ow!" He squealed, leaping up and rubbing the back of his head. "Unnecessary, unfunny and so not cool, woman!"
"It was funny and you know it." She shot back tartly as she and her gaggle of giggling girls- including her closest friends, Valentia Mae and Constance Ford- strode past the three boys, many breaking into fits of high-pitched laughter at random moments. Remus, Sirius and James gaped after them, the latter perhaps, gawping slightly too much, and as the party reached the vast doorway, Lily turned and smiled timidly in their direction, her gaze zeroing in on one person in particular. (A/N: Three guesses who that was!)
"Well," Sirius leaned, comfortably at ease, at the table, a satisfied smirk on his face. "It seems I have more admirers- did you happen to catch that smile Evans shot at me, Prongs? She obviously infatuated with me, can't say I blame her."
James growled, his eyes burning with jealousy. Remus dropped his serious stance and looked at his livid friend sympathetically, as one would if confronted with a being that was mentally challenged.
"James," He sighed, shaking his head. "Are you blind?" James' blank expression spurred him on. "It's you Lily's interested in, idiot."
"But…but, Sirius just said"- James spluttered, but Sirius interrupted him.
"I think you can count on one hand how many times I've ever been serious, and still have plenty of fingers to spare, mate." He joked lightly.
"So she wasn't smiling at you?" James pondered, his mind drawing the conclusion so slow it was painful to witness. "So, so… she was smiling at me!"
"Bingo, finally." Remus muttered under his breath. James yelped and leapt from his chair.
"I've got to follow her!"
Sirius placed his hand on his friends shoulder and gently pushed downwards; James sinking onto the bench he had just vacated and casting Sirius a befuddled look that was more common on the face of a five year old, rather than that of a person over three times older than that.
"Um, mate," Sirius began, but Remus interrupted him; "She's probably grown a beard by now, James, you took that long to figure it out."
"No! There's still time…" He babbled frantically, all the hope fading from his eyes as he said the words none of the trio believed.
"Better luck next time, eh?" Sirius patted his shoulder pityingly.
"Yeah, I suppose." James face of dejection tore Sirius in half; one side battling the impulse to laugh, while the other just wanted to cry.
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"So what's first?" Sirius's voice carried over the chattering of the crowd that surrounded them, so his friends could hear him easily, however deafened they were as they exited the Hall by what could only be described as a mob, the sound steadily increasing in volume until their eardrums were throbbing.
"You haven't got a timetable?" Lupin shouted back in disbelief. "McGonagall gave us all one yesterday."
"Nah. Lost it." Sirius's tone implied it to be the most natural thing in the world to misplace your timetable within the first twenty four hours of acquiring it. Remus muttered rapidly under his breath, releasing the words too swiftly to be comprehensible to Sirius, he did however catch several of the profanities and phrases- such as 'incompetent' and 'arrogant berk', causing him to slice his bottom lip open in the effort of refraining from laughing. "I'll borrow Peters."
Remus and James shared a troubled glance.
"Didn't you know?" James' voice was laden with surprised incredulity. "Peter's missing, his whole family are; their house is empty, like they haven't been there for weeks."
Sirius' usually cheerful, carelessly handsome face fell, his eyes dulled until they were devoid of emotion, and his mouth set in a hard line.
"So that's that then." His voice was flat, showing not the barest hint of feeling.
"So…" James coughed, uncomfortable at the tense, morose silence. "What have we got first?" He asked Sirius' original question. Remus leapt on the question and answered hurriedly. "Defence Against the Dark Arts."
"With who?" Sirius asked, curious, James and Remus sighed with uncontained relief; glad that the subject had switched courses. "Old Retifa resigned last year, lazy bugger, he was only here a year."
"So's every other DADA teacher we've ever had." James broke in with a snort.
"New teacher… Miss Angeletti."
"Ooh, Miss, eh?" Sirius grinned, a plan forming already in his dashingly cunning marauder mind. "If she's younger than twenty five, thirty galleons say she could be mine before the end of the year." James sniggered, but Remus frowned.
"Is that all your miniscule, adolescent mind thinks about?" He demanded furiously, his eyes flashing dangerously. "Bedding teacher to up your grades?"
"Would I ever really do that, Remmie?" Sirius asked innocently, his eyes wide and empty of guilt. "Would I really ever cop off with a teacher? Rhetorical question, Moonykins, don't answer that (Lupin had scowled and opened his mouth to retort with the right answer) - anyway, I'm not saying I will, just that I could."
"Can't argue with that." He agreed reluctantly.
"Besides, as if I would do it to up my grades- they're perfect already."
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Sirius idly fiddled with the cuffs of his immaculate white dress shirt while the class waited in excited chatter for the mystery-shrouded teacher they had never seen before. Miss Angeletti wasn't present yet. It appeared Sirius thought, that this teacher was not one for arriving on time.
"Oi, Remmie, what's the time?"
"Ten to." He answered, looking up from sketching a spectacular illustration of a phoenix. The tones and shading were perfect; it almost looked like Sirius was staring a miniature version of an actual fire-bird.
"Nice." Remus grinned sideways at Sirius, and returned to his artwork.
Before he could do anything else, the door clanged open and slender, feminine figure clad in black strode in to the room, her face obscured by her medium length black hair that swung over her shoulder. Sirius straightened in his chair, his face foolishly expectant; time to play with the new girl, to see how far he could push her.
As she sashayed towards the desk, the Black examined her; she was slender, but tall, around his height, her wide-sleeved robe hanging close to her body, tied at her waist- accenting her lack of weight even more prominently- with a simple yet stylish back sash.
The banter and raucous laughter of the thirty-so carefree adolescents in the room gradually dwindled as more eyes took note of the figure that had entered the casual, laid-back atmosphere of the teacher less classroom. When it had ceased altogether, the woman glanced up.
Whatever Sirius Black had been expecting, the magnitude of the reaction that swept over him wasn't it. Cold swept over his body, followed by a rush of heat, then cold again as the woman's eyes found his. As their eyes met, an electric current sparked into life down Sirius' spine, running its length, making him shudder involuntarily. Her lips curved at the edges, transforming into a beautiful half-smile, almost like she could tell what he was thinking. His heart rate accelerated, his ribs burning as he gasped for breath.
And then, as suddenly as it had begun, the eye contact broke as the woman shifted her gaze to the rest of the class, who had broken into chatter as they realised that it was impossible for this person to be the teacher. It was true, Sirius realised abruptly; she was too young, she almost looked the same age as the seventh years in the classroom, awaiting their instructor but secretly relishing in the extra time they had to chat.
Sirius watched her face- it was unfeasible, no matter how he tried to look away, all his efforts were in vain. Her eyes were liquid topaz, smouldering slightly against her white skin, and the hair that had selfishly stolen her face from him when she first entered the classroom was the deepest black imaginable, perhaps even darker. This woman, the incarnation of pure beauty, didn't belong in this imperfect world, where everyone was shadowed by her inhuman splendour.
Lucius Malfoys' cold, confidant drawl released Sirius from the stunned, freezing void he was slipping into; "So, when's that bloody teacher gonna get here?" You"- the menace in his voice was clear, he obviously expected the woman (who, Sirius was sure now, could not be over eighteen.) to be intimidated and tell him what he wanted. "Know where she is? And who the hell are you?" he seemed to add the last sentence as an after thought, she, however, didn't even flinch as he glared down at her, just returned his stare coolly and, without answering him, turned on her heel and walked fluidly to the desk. Malfoy was shaking with rage; nobody treated him, a Malfoy, like that!
From beneath her robes, she produced a slender piece of wood and rapped the board with it. She had the whole class's attention now, they all waited with baited breath; some uttered gasps as two words appeared on the board-recognition and incredulity slowly dawned on Sirius and every other students faces as they read the elegantly scripted words.
Celia Angeletti
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A/N: Okay, it is a ridiculously long chapter (it's like 2000 words), but I think it's alright. It's a bit of a cliffy thing at the end, at least I think it is, so I'll try an update as soon as I can, but everyone is discussing putting a restraining order on me computer-wise. Not that that'll stop me. The kittens were at me again, so spelling mistakes and any other errors please tell me of and I'll pass it on to them.
Review? Even if it's just one word, throw it in anyway, I like them.
GP