Black Blood
Disclaimer: Regretfully, I do not own Sirius Black or any of the other characters found in the Harry Potter Septology. However, if anyone would like to donate funds so that I can become richer than J. K Rowling and buy them from her, I promise I will bring Sirius Black back from the dead and do anything else you say. Please send your gold to Ian McDiarmid's front lawn, where I am currently begging him to take me as his new apprentice and teach me how to bring someone back from the dead. (Ian McDiarmid plays the Emperor in Star Wars, if you happened to not know that.)
A/N: Yes, I haven't updated in a long time, I know. I did warn you at the beginning of this that I wasn't going to be able to do that. What can I say? Life sucks when you have to work for a living and pay for school. And I've also been distracted because for some reason my second chapter of this keeps getting deleted on Mugglenet and I was trying to keep it constant with this. They'retwo chapters behind you now. Not that you care, but it helps me be more consistent. Hope you like the chapter. Let me know, won't you?
Luv, Liveley
Chapter 3 – Moon Mystery
"This is against my better judgment, Black," announced Raven as she followed Remus and Jordan through the door and Remus closed it.
Sirius smiled cheekily at her as he patted the empty couch space next to him. "Believe me, Ashe, going against one's better judgment can be a lot of fun."
Raven promptly sat across the room from Sirius and narrowed her eyes on him. "Why do I think that was one of your lines?"
"I—" started Sirius.
"Because it was," Remus answered. "Give it a rest, huh, Sirius? You promised to be a good boy."
"Luckily I didn't promise to be silent," he said, winking at Raven.
Remus sat next to Sirius and Jordan took a seat opposite him as Raven rolled her eyes. "Haven't changed much in two years then, have you?"
"Hey," Sirius leaned forward, "I haven't tried to kiss you yet, have I?"
"Yeah," agreed Raven, "I have to say that's a plus."
Sirius glared as Raven smiled sweetly at him, making him cringe. "Don't pretend you're so innocent, Ashe. I know better."
"Honestly," Jordan spoke for the first time, "with you two bickering, Remus and I can hardly get in a word."
"One of you shut him up then," Raven said with a smirk.
Remus and Jordan looked at each other and then laughed. Sirius began to chuckle, too. "I'm sorry, Ashe. I just do it because I know it gets your knickers in a twist."
"My knickers are none of your business, Black."
"Well not yet," Sirius corrected.
Jordan asked quickly, before Raven had room to respond, "Are we going out to eat somewhere?"
"What? Black doesn't cook?" sneered Raven.
"No, I don't, and you wouldn't want me to," he answered. "Honestly. I burn water."
Twenty minutes later, they were all seated around a table at Magical Meals having just ordered their dinner.
As Remus and Jordan talked animatedly to one another, Sirius and Raven were taking it in turns to roll their eyes and sigh with boredom.
"So, how are James and Lily doing? I heard they got married."
Sirius sighed.
"Yeah, they did," answered Remus. "Lily's pregnant. Due next month."
Raven rolled her eyes.
Jordan squealed with delight. "Boy or girl?"
Sirius rolled his eyes.
"It's a boy. James said he didn't want to know until he was born, but Lily said she had to know what color to paint the nursery."
Sirius forgot that it was Raven's turn so both he and Raven sighed at the same time and then each started snickering.
"What's so funny?" asked Jordan.
Raven continued to giggle as Sirius suddenly straightened in his chair. "I just remembered something!"
"What?"
"You kissed Remus on the cheek at the End-of-Term Ball!" he exclaimed.
Jordan seemed unabashed. "Yeah."
A waiter came to bring their drinks, salads, and dinner rolls. Remus smiled and said "Thank you," politely, then turned back to Jordan. "Oh yes…" said Remus, his cheeks going slightly pink. "Why did you?"
She shrugged. "I had a crush on you. Raven said I wouldn't do it, but I did."
Raven cleared her throat. "Had?"
"But why is it that you get to kiss Moony and he doesn't say a word when Ashe is still giving me shit for kissing her over two years ago?"
"She kissed him on the cheek!" shrieked Raven. "And I dared her to because I knew they both liked each other. There's a difference, you moronic troll!"
Sirius smirked and held up a dinner roll. "Wanna roll?"
Raven leered at him.
Sirius cracked an irresistible smile. "What would you do if I kissed you right now?"
Raven turned from him and looked across the table as though waiting for Remus to answer Sirius's question.
"…What?" asked Remus, looking a little confused.
"Well, he better be talking to you," said Raven.
Sirius grinned and feigned his most innocent voice, saying, "I was!"
"Because if he wasn't, I'm gonna—"
"Okay, can we try and get along, please?" asked Remus.
"Yeah, really," agreed Jordan. "Just try and be nice to each other for once. It won't kill you."
Sirius and Raven glanced hesitantly at each other.
"All right. If that's what you guys really want, we'll try," said Raven. She put on a fake smile as she turned to Sirius again, took the roll he was still holding out to her, and said, "Black, my dear friend, could you pass the butter?"
"Ah, but Raven, my pet, you didn't say the magic word," he scolded, shaking his finger in her face.
Raven gasped bogusly. "Oh how dreadfully…appalling of me! Let me try it again. Please, oh please, pass me the butter, Siri-poo."
Remus and Jordan snickered as they ate their salads and watched the scene before them.
Trying not to laugh, Sirius quickly grabbed the butter dish and set it in front of Raven. As Raven raised her knife, Sirius seized it from her and dipped it into the butter himself.
"Here, Muffin," he said, taking the roll from her as well. "Allow me." He cut it in half and buttered it for her.
"Why, Sirius Black, what on earth would I do without such a chivalrous companion as yourself?" Raven asked, batting her eyelashes and smiling adoringly at him.
"I just don't know, Cheesecake. Let me help you eat," he said as he stuffed the roll into Raven's mouth.
Jordan and Remus couldn't keep silent any longer. They were soon both slumped over their food, roaring with laughter.
"Cheesecake!" exclaimed Remus between fits of laughter.
A waiter suddenly appeared at Remus's side and held out a menu. "Yes, of course we have cheesecake, sir. The finest cheesecake this part of the country, I assure you. I recommend…"
This cued Raven, after spitting the roll out of her mouth into her napkin, and Sirius to laugh with them as the waitress brought their dinners.
"Wha—oh no," Remus choked out, "I...we didn't want cheesecake…but…thank you! M-maybe after…" he gestured toward their plates of food, "after our dinner…"
"Okay, I take it back," said Jordan when she had regained her voice, "don't you two ever be nice to each other again."
When they had finished their dinners, Remus had decided he would have some cheesecake. He called the "Cheesecake Pusher" (as Sirius aptly named him) over. The waiter who had been so energetic when telling them about the cheesecake before, now brought it to Remus with a blank look on his face. After receiving their desserts, conversation resumed.
"Would you kindly hand me that pitcher of water, Ashe?" Sirius asked.
"No," teased Raven. "It's my pitcher." She began to fill his glass with water. "Say when."
Sirius smirked. "As soon as I finish this drink…"
She glared at him and made a point of spilling the ice water over into his lap.
"Ashe!" Sirius exclaimed, jumping up and shaking the cold water off as she laughed at him. "What'd I say?" He quickly dried himself off with a flick of his wand.
"Would you two behave?" pleaded Remus.
"Me? It was her! She just dumped cold water purposefully down my pants!" defended Sirius.
"You deserved it, Black," said Jordan. "You always deserve it."
Raven smiled at Jordi and nodded.
"Just be quiet, Sirius, all right? Other people are trying to enjoy their dinners."
Sirius and Raven smirked at each other and Sirius said, "Yes, Mother."
"Speaking of which, how is she?" Remus grinned, finding something to change the topic.
"Who? The hag?" Sirius grimaced. "Alive, unfortunately."
"Well, don't sound so disappointed, Black," Jordan said.
"Have you heard anything else from Regulus? Did he really join the Death Eaters?" asked Raven.
"What do you think? We arrange to meet for a nice lunch and catch up on things? I hate my brother," said Sirius with a slight hint of malevolence. "I haven't seen him since I left school."
"I wanted to know if he was really a Death Eater like you said!" Raven said crossly. "Have you ever thought what would happen if he was? I mean with you in the Order of the Phoenix and he a Death Eater… What if you had to fight each other?"
"Don't think down that lane, Ashe. He's my brother; he isn't a killer."
"Well with You-Know-Who, it's kill or be killed, isn't it?" Jordan asked.
Remus nodded solemnly. "Have you thought about that, Sirius? He's the only brother you've got, you know."
"Thank you, Moony," said Sirius sarcastically. "Look, what do you want me to do? He got himself into this mess."
"Black, we all know you hated each other, but you can't sit there and say you wouldn't help your own brother if you knew he was going to get himself killed," said Raven. "Regulus wasn't spawned from hell like Bellatrix. He isn't completely evil, and you know it."
Sirius's anger was rising. "I don't know what the hell you think you know about my family, Ashe, but stay out of it!"
"I don't know much about your family, and I never said I did," Raven said calmly. "What I do know is that you have an enduring Gryffindor chivalry complex—
"I do not have a sodding chivalry complex!" countered Sirius heatedly.
"Oh really, Black? Remember last week when you just had to 'save' me from those Death Eaters even when you thought I was a complete stranger? And this time it's your brother's life that's on the line. Even though you may hate his guts, you're not likely to sit back and watch him die."
"You do," Remus agreed with Raven. "We all do. That's why we were Gryffindors. That's why we're in the Order, isn't it?"
Knowing Remus was right, Sirius sighed. "Yeah, okay." He turned to Raven again, suddenly realizing something and regaining his anger. "Is this the only reason you came tonight?"
Raven smirked. "Of course not, Black. …Haven't you heard? This place has the finest cheesecake this part of the country!"
"Oh yeah, I'm sure that's why you came," replied Sirius derisively.
"Well I didn't come because I'm in love with you, that's for sure," she retorted.
Sirius grinned. "Give it time, Ashe. Give it time."
After dinner, the four of them opted to walk through the park on their way home. Sirius and Raven were again left to fend for themselves as Remus and Jordan walked a little ways ahead of them, engrossed in conversation.
"So why do you hate me, Ashe?" Sirius asked as they walked along, trying to keep up with their friends. "The least you can do is tell me."
"I don't hate you, Black."
"Yes, you do." Sirius insisted.
"If I truly hated you, I wouldn't put up with you at all," she answered.
"Ah-ha! So you like me!" exclaimed Sirius victoriously.
Raven glared at him as they continued walking.
He grimaced. "Okay, so maybe you aren't exactly in love with me yet—and I stress yet—but why do you give me such a hard time, huh? I know I messed up by kissing you like that, but it was two years ago. Does it take that long to get over it?"
"No," said Raven, simply. "I'm sorry I'm like that."
Sirius stopped in his tracks to stare disbelievingly at her. "Okay, first of all, I didn't mean that I don't like that about you, because I do. And second, I fully expected you to yell at me for saying something like that."
She shrugged. "After being around you so long, it gets a bit tiring yelling at you, if you don't mind me saying. I think I just give it up after so long."
"Ah," Sirius grinned, "so I have to win you over again every time I see you."
"Something like that," she smirked.
"Well then, I see only one solution: I'll have to never let you out of my sight. If we're never apart, you'll never have time to recharge your defenses."
Raven rolled her eyes. "Black, if I had to spend every second of every day with you, I guarantee you wouldn't make it until sundown."
"Speaking of sundown…" said Sirius, pointing at the sunset before them.
Remus and Jordan were still a little ways ahead of them as Sirius's mouth formed a devious smirk. "Kiss her, Moony! Kiss her!"
As Raven whacked Sirius across the chest for being so blatant, Remus's body suddenly went rigid. For a moment, it seemed to Sirius that he was actually going to make a retort. And as Sirius opened his mouth, Raven again threw an arm across his chest, only this time, it was restraining and her expression was serious.
"Black, I don't know what's happening, but you and Jordi have to get out of here," said Raven very quickly, giving Sirius a push. "Come on, Jordi!"
Jordan had turned to Remus when he stiffened up. "Remus? Wh-what's wrong? Are you okay?"
"Jordi, you have to go with Black." Raven had darted forward and was pulling her away from Remus as his eyes were starting to roll up into his head and he was panting like a dog.
When Sirius caught sight of Remus, he understood what was going on and turned the tables on Raven, who was trying to shove them back from Remus.
"Ashe, I don't know what you think you're doing, but you can't hold him off any better than I can, now get out of here and hurry!"
Raven stayed rooted to the spot when he tried to push her back instead. "Yes I can, Black, you don't understand. I can't explain right now, okay? You're going to have to trust me. Please, just get Jordi out of here."
"No!" shouted Sirius. "You don't understand. He won't bite me."
"In a few seconds, he won't you know you are, Sirius!" Her voice was pleading now. "You're wasting time!"
"I'm not going to leave you here to get killed, Raven!" Sirius shouted back at her. "Now use your brain, and—"
"SIRIUS!" growled a not-so-human-sounding voice behind them. Remus was glaring at him, breathing heavily and on the threshold of transforming. "GO!"
Sirius looked back to Raven, shaking his head.
She nodded. "Please! Get Jordi somewhere safe. I can handle him."
Sirius let out a growl of frustration and pulled Jordan quickly in the direction of his flat.
Raven was watching them go, making sure they got to the house okay when she heard a menacing growl behind her. She turned quickly and came face to face with the wolf.
She looked into his cold, black eyes and narrowed her own on them. He made to move around her and go after the others, but she stepped swiftly sideways, her eyes boring into the wolf's, daring him to defy her. He growled at her, but she pushed him back roughly and he did not challenge her again, but looked up at the moon, now visible that the sun had gone down. He let out a loud, bone-chilling howl, and as Raven looked up at the sky after him and gasped at what she saw, the wolf in front of her collapsed and turned back into Remus once again.
Sirius was suddenly shaking her, having just transformed from a giant black dog behind her. "Raven, are you all right? What happened to Moony? Why didn't he attack you? How did he change back?"
He knelt next to Remus's buckled body and was somewhat reassured when he felt a pulse.
Raven knelt next to him looking outright bewildered.
Sirius turned to her urgently. "Why won't you answer me?" he demanded.
Raven looked up at the sky again, where a crescent moon was shining back at her. She dropped her gaze to him again and said slowly. "It's not even a full moon…"
A/N: Oh quit complaining, I barely ever do cliff hangers. Now why do you think Remus is transforming when it's not the full moon, hmm? Yes, I do have a pretty good explanation, I think anyway. And why didn't he try to bite Raven? Good questions for you to ponder and then answer in your review, I think. Again, I apologize for the delay in updating. Thanks for reading.
Luv, Liveley.