Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Playing God
Chapter 8
Whoever was knocking on her door must have the intention to knock it down, Hermione thought to herself as she threw her Muggle magazine on the coffee table before her (that Natalia had lent to her, something about joining the world of fake eyelashes and hair extensions, something that she wasn't interested in doing) and she opened the door, not at all surprised to see Sirius leaning against the doorframe, his fisted hand raised to knock again.
He looked good, Hermione thought - this being quite a common route for her mind to take these days - looking at his black button-down shirt that was rolled up to his elbows, the thumb of his other hand hooked into the pocket of his denim jeans and his hair was tied back in a casual ponytail, wisps falling down to frame his face.
"Ah, Mr Black," She greeted him teasingly, opening the door for him to walk into her apartment, suddenly extremely aware that she was wearing pyjama's – polka dot pyjama's. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"
She watched as he walked with a sort of lazy and casual swagger into her home and sat on her sofa as if he lived here. She closed the door and moved to sit beside him, tucking her cotton clad legs beneath her body and turning to face him. He quirked his eyebrow at her choice of attire and Hermione felt her skin flush slightly.
"Cute," he said, his eyes very slowly moving up her body to settle on her eyes, his steel grey meeting her warm chocolate and his lip quirked at the side when he saw that her skin had flamed. "I wanna take you out."
"Okay." She nodded, feeling a lot more at ease with Sirius lately – her mission was important and she couldn't waste time pondering if it was right or wrong, it was what needed to be done.
"I'll wait here." He said, putting his feet up on her coffee table, his boots thudding on the oak wood.
Hermione just stared at him, wondering what he was waiting for. "Right now?"
"Yes, right now. Go on and throw some clothes on…If you want, I could help you get out of these…" He said suggestively, his finger trailing along the sleeve of her red tank top and she cursed herself when she felt her skin get warmer.
"No, thankyou, that won't be necessary." She said hastily and stood quickly, "where are we going?"
"It's a surprise. Just grab some jeans, it's all good. And a nice, warm jacket, it's cold tonight."
Hermione did as she was told, running to her room and grabbing the first pair of jeans that she saw and, leaving her red tank top on, she reached the jacket closest to her, shrugging it on without pause, not noticing just what jacket she had on. She rushed back to the living room to see Sirius was reading the magazine, his eyebrows quirked.
"50 sex positions in 50 days. I'm game if you are, love." He said suggestively and Hermione rolled her eyes, but she couldn't fight the smile that was threating to appear and she gave in, shaking her head at his forwardness. "You ready?"
She nodded and grabbed her purse, throwing the strap over her head and shoulder and went to the door, but she was stopped by Sirius' hand on her forearm. She turned and looked at him and inquisitive look on her face and she watched, almost in a trance as he lifted the bag strap back over her head and shoulder and dropping it to the floor. It had snagged under her hair, pulling it up and away from her neck and once he'd pulled it free from her insane curls, they fell to frame her face again.
"Sirius, what are you doing? My money's in the-"
"You don't need it, love. I'm paying."
"Sirius, I couldn't possibly ask you to cover the whole tab!" She began to protest, but he shushed her, linking their fingers and Hermione's brain went black very quickly at the contact.
"You're not asking. I want to."
Hermione had to give in at that statement (the real truth was that she couldn't seem to form words at the moment, with him so very close to her) and she let him pull her from her home, locking it with a tap of his wand and he gently tugged her from the courtyard.
The first thing that she saw when she was out on the pavement was the gleaming black motorbike with chrome fittings sitting on the road, leaning against the pavement on the side stand. "Sirius…" She said warningly, recognising the bike – and knowing that the red button on the underside of the handlebar would make the bike leave the floor. To Hermione, it should have had a Skull and crossbones on it. Sirius just chuckled and lifted her onto the bike with ease before settling astride it before her, reaching behind him for her arms and winding them around his waist, pushing back just a little so that she could feel the heat of his body through the jacket that she wore.
"Hold on tight, sweetheart." He said huskily and before Hermione could protest, because this was dangerous and neither of them had protective clothing on or even helmets, he had revived the motorbike, kicked off the pavement and they were shooting down the road. Instinctively, Hermione let out a little yelp and moved even closer to Sirius, holding him so tightly it was a wonder that he didn't complain about the discomfort – Instead, he laughed out loud and urged the bike to go even faster.
"Sirius, I really don't appreciate this!" She shouted over the sound of the wind roaring in her ears and the feel of the motorbike rumbling beneath her body.
"You know that you love the thrill!" He laughed back at her, the motorbike speeding across the blacktop roads, eating up the miles.
A few minutes later (which had seemed like a lifetime to Hermione) and they pulled up into the driveway of a house, the motorbike purring contently as Sirius slowed it down and turned it with ease, kicking up the side-stand and turning it off with a flick of his wrist. "See, that wasn't so bad, was it?" He teased and slid from the seat, offering his hand to Hermione. She stared at it blankly for a moment before her own shaky hand reached out to meet his, their fingertips touching briefly before Sirius' whole palm met hers and pulled her off the gleaming motorbike with ease.
"Where are we?"
"Welcome to restaurant Sirius!" He said, bowing extravagantly, letting go of her hand momentarily to clap his own twice in sharp, quick succession and a hundred candles, that had been floating around on the lawn unseen by Hermione lit at once and Hermione gasped at the beauty of them as they illuminated a small table, seated for two.
"Sirius…This is…I can't believe..." She trailed off, staring at the small table, overwhelmed by the work and effort that had been put into this for her.
"Wow. Speechless. You're making this too easy, Hermione," Sirius said, taking the leather band from his hair and running his hand through the black strands, looking a little nervous at the reaction from Hermione.
"All this…For me?" She asked, moving closer to the table.
"Do you see any other beautiful brunette's around her?" He asked, sweeping his arm around to prove his point.
Hermione shook her head in amazement, wondering briefly if the magic of the mirror was really that strong that it could cause Sirius to act towards her like this. "I still can't believe it…"
"You better believe it sweetheart – I don't want you to forget this."
"I don't think I could if I tried." Hermione chuckled, sitting in the chair that Sirius had pulled out for her, watching him appreciatively as he rounded the table to his own chair.
She couldn't help but think how handsome he looked in the candlelight, making his grey eyes blaze in a way that resembled passion.
Little did she know, his thoughts were travelling down the same path, admiring the glow of her skin, the flare of her hair and he imagined ploughing his fingers through the thick locks, tilting her head back and feeding her a hot passionate kiss.
"Well, I'm sure this will help keep it ingrained in your memory." He clapped his hands twice and he watched Hermione, saw the amazement flicker across her face as the food appeared on the plates before them, seemingly blooming from the pewter as a flower would the soil.
"What a marvellous display, I'm very impressed." Hermione smiled at him, her brown eyes shining with amusement and Sirius longed to touch her.
"Well, dig in, m'lady." She didn't need telling twice, the food before her looked delicious and her suspicions were proven correct when she tasted it.
They ate their dinner while making light conversation – Sirius told her that he'd cast a shield so that the Muggles in the neighbourhood couldn't see them and Hermione told him how Flourish and Blotts was back in tip-top condition and that she'd be returning to work tomorrow.
"You're going for dinner, aren't you?" Sirius asked, taking a sip of his pumpkin juice (he was working tomorrow and couldn't have any alcohol).
"I think so – then we're still going out on Thursday, right?" She asked, and Sirius saw the shy demeanour that she usually hid come forth, as she hesitantly glanced at him.
"Thursday? Hmmm…I don't remember making plans with you for Thursday…" He said playfully, tapping his chin with his pointer finger as if he were in deep thought and Hermione laughed and threw a piece of chicken at him. "Of course we are. I was thinking my place, PJ's, a movie and some junk food." He shrugged, crossing his arms on the table and leaning forward to get closer to Hermione, "what do you think?"
"Honestly? I think that sounds like heaven." She grinned and it became infectious: Sirius felt his lips pulling up at the corner.
"I look forward to it. I'll pick you up." He didn't miss the glance to his motorbike, the gleaming black and chrome body work glinting in the soft candlelight. "Oh, come on, love –" before he could tease her like he was planning to, it seemed that the Gods were against him because before he could even blink, the heavens seemed to open up and get them both soaked within two seconds.
They looked at each other in shock for a millisecond before Hermione laughed, shaking her head and the wet tendrils of her curly hair stuck to the skin of her neck and on her cheeks and to Sirius she looked so beautiful that if this had been a cheesy romantic book, she would have taken his breath away.
"Run for cover!" She yelled, pushing away from the table and running to his front door, her laughter reaching his ears. He growled playfully and leapt after her, loving this carefree woman before him and he caught her easily, one arm hooked around her waist and he pulled her back to meet his chest just before she reached his front door.
"And where do you think you're going?" Sirius growled lightly by her ear and her giggling stopped almost straightaway. She turned in his arms but he didn't relinquish his hold on her. The rain was dancing around them, hitting the ground with a seemingly effortless rhythm, surrounding them.
"Sirius, it's raining. We should go inside and get dry," Hermione mumbled, her hands resting on his chest lightly, her fingers playing with the collar of his black shirt.
Instead of responding, he dipped his head so that his forehead touched hers gently and his obsidian black hair tangled lightly with her mess of coffee coloured curls. "Hermione," he whispered, his voice low and deep and it filled her instantly with warmth and she felt so safe and for the first time since she got to this time she didn't feel fear climb up her spine so she did the only thing that made sense to her at that moment.
She kissed him.
He responded immediately, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer to him so that she stood on her tip-toes, her body pressed tightly to his and she sighed in his mouth, feeling that this was right as he groaned lightly, one of his hands climbing up her back and tangling in her wet hair, tilting her head even further back and granting him better access to her lips as she instinctively wrapped one leg around his hip bone Just as a flash of lightning lit the sky up momentarily like a Christmas tree and penetrated Hermione's sanity.
"Sirius," she gasped, breaking the kiss and he groaned, pressing kisses across her wet skin to the hollow just beneath her ear and she felt her knees go weak when his tongue lightly pressed against it and she felt goosebumps erupt over her skin. "Sirius, we should…We should stop."
The second that the word left her mouth Sirius did just that; he stopped.
"Yeah?" He asked, panting slightly and shaking his head to get the loose strands of hair out of his eyes.
"Yeah." She confirmed, cupping his jaw in her hand and pressing a quick kiss to the corner of his lips. He moved his head to the side and tried to chase after her mouth, but she had moved it before he could get there. "Listen, you've probably gathered by now that I'm not looking for a fling or a one-night stand and Sirius, that's what you're all about."
"I don't have to be. Hermione, I've never been unfaithful."
"And I believe you. I'm not accusing you of being a cheater, Sirius, I'm accusing you of being a womanizer and that's what you are." She said over the pounding rain and she felt Sirius' hand clutch at her just a bit tighter when thunder boomed all around them. "Sirius, you've only just met me. Maybe in a few months we can try this for real, but right now I can't trust that you won't just disappear on me after a few days with nothing to remember you by other than the rose on my pillow and your boxers thrown over my lamp."
Sirius's eyes narrowed at her words and Hermione couldn't quite hide the giggle. "Let me guess…Natalia tell you that?"
"Among other things." She smiled, moving away from him and breaking his hold, her back pressed fully to the door, "it isn't a 'no', Sirius, it's a 'wait-and-see.'" And she meant it. She knew that for this plan to work, Sirius would have to fall in love with her and he couldn't do that right now because he wasn't in the right mind-frame to do so, but Hermione would wait for him – she was starting to understand that Sirius was a man worth waiting for. "Now can we please go inside? I'm freezing!"
00000
"And then what?" Natalia asked as she leaned forward, her elbows on the kitchen table in front of her, her dark eyes searching Hermione's face, absorbed in the story that she was being told.
"We went inside, had some drinks, made plans for Thursday and then he took me home on that stupid contraption and that was it." Hermione answered, lifting the kettle before it whistled shrilly and went about making herself some tea.
"That was it?" Natalia asked incredulously, staring at Hermione as if she were an alien. "That was it?"
Hermione hopped up onto her chair opposite Natalia and sipped her tea, nodding as she did so. "That was it."
"Are you a real woman?" Hermione was so taken aback by this (serious) question that she choked on her tea and nearly fell off her chair.
"Of course I'm a real woman!" Hermione spluttered, half offended and half amused. "What on Earth made you question this?"
"You walked away!" Natalia said like it was the most obvious thing in the World and she shook her head in what looked like shame at her Hermione's logic. "Please tell me that you'll be on all fours on Thursday?"
"Natalia!" Hermione felt her skin flush at both the words and the image that floated to the front of her mind, "do you have to be so crass?"
Natalia just shrugged and took a long gulp of her black coffee and, after flipping her hair over her shoulder, proceeded to tell her, in great detail, what a giving lover Sirius Black was.
A/N: I know, I know, I'm incredibly late. I have no excuse, but, in what I hope appeases you all, I have another chapter to put up today – it should be done in the next few hours! So sorry!
Kelly
xxx