Our Endless Numbered Days

Chapter 3-You Got Me All Wrong

An hour after she stomped up the stairs in a huff, intent on finding and finishing her game of hide and seek with Henry, Josie was lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Part of her, deep down, was still annoyed with magic boy, although an encroaching sense of guilt was beginning to well up in her; her comments were slightly out of line and she could have made a bit more of an effort to make a good first impression. She frowned; guilt always left a bad taste in her mouth. She would have to apologize, a thought, in and of itself, which was rather foreign to her.

She didn't often apologize, only when she actually felt that she was in the wrong. And as she replayed the scene over and over in her head, she had come to the conclusion that she clearly was. Just because she was in a bad mood over the way the summer started didn't mean that she had to take it out on him. Sirius Black, for all she knew, could be a really good guy. Not to mention, gorgeous, she thought, a smirk finding its way on to her face as she remembered his good looks. His presence during the summer would be interesting, that's for sure.

Having made her decision, Josie pushed her thoughts away and rolled over towards the phone, impulse taking control of her body. Dialing a number she knew all too well, she held the receiver to her ear, listening to the rings. She bit her lip, the action unconscious, as she waited for Matt to pick up. The phone rang and rang and for a moment, Josie thought that perhaps he wasn't home, that he wouldn't pick up. Just as she was about to hang up the phone, the telltale click of someone picking up on the other end reached her ears. Josie smiled as Matt's voice filtered through the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hiya Mattie," she said quietly.

"Josie? Is that you?"

"Yeah yeah, it's me. Sorry for taking so long to call you. Daddy and I didn't finish talking until late last night and the only thing I wanted to do was sleep."

"No big, love. I've got a hold of you now, don't I?" Josie giggled.

"I suppose you do."

"Anyways, I'll get straight to the point. How long are you grounded for?" Josie opened her mouth to tell him that she wasn't, but something caused her to hesitate, although she didn't know what. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "That bad?"

"Uh, no, actually," She finally said, regaining her voice.

"No? You're not grounded at all?"

"Uh yeah."

"Well that's great news! Listen, Jose, since you're not grounded, you gotta meet up with me tonight. The gang's all heading over to Dylan's to hang out and get pissed." A big smile over took Josie's face.

"Sounds perfect. What time do I need to keep an eye out?"

"I can swing by and pick you up around nine."

"Dinner should be done by then. Don't come to the door though; I may not be grounded, but the parentals don't exactly want me going out at all hours of the night, until god knows when, unattended. Apparently there's been some sort of threat on the family; we've got a new body guard and everything. Anyways, usual signal?"

"Two flashes, three beeps."

"I'll see you then."

"Bye Josie!" She hung up the phone and pranced over to her record player, blasting her music and dancing crazily around her room until Mrs. Pierce knocked on her door for dinner.

As an outsider, Sirius couldn't tell if the tension in the dining room was due to his presence or if this was a normal occurrence for the Flanders family. The Prime Minister sat at the head of the table, his eyes unfocused, his fork occasionally bringing food to his mouth. He chewed slowly, contemplatively, as if he was trying to figure out if he actually enjoyed the food he was ingesting. Mrs. Flanders or Flossie, as she had instructed him to call her accompanied by a suggestive wink that Sirius chose not to think about, barely ate anything, drinking her wine instead. This caused her tongue to loosen, for her to talk during the meal, although most of the time she didn't make much sense. Henry squirmed in his chair, making towers out of his food and then knocking it all down, with sound effects, to keep himself occupied. And Josephine was brooding, her eyes on her food that she moved around with a fork, but barely touched. Her head was cocked to the side and supported by her left hand, her left elbow placed firmly on the table.

Sirius himself ate quietly, quickly, pausing only to observe the family or to answer a slightly slurred question that Flossie directed his way. Was this normal, he wondered. Were all muggle families like this? Sirius hoped it wasn't so. It reminded him far too much of his own family, growing up. The stuffy, pureblood, proper society mannerisms that he had been forced to endure as a child, were exactly like the situation he was observing now. His eyes found their way back to Josie, her quietness unnerving him. From their encounter before, Sirius fully expected her to be outspoken, rebellious, loud, even obnoxious at the meal tonight. But in the presence of her parents, she seemed to withdraw into herself; she didn't make eye contact, she barely spoke, and she hardly moved. It unnerved him, how quickly this girl could go from one extreme to another. With a sharp gasp, Flossie Flanders diverted Sirius' attention.

"Darling," she spoke, "Your birthday is at the end of the month." Josie shrugged, her face still bent towards the table. "Oh, wouldn't it be just wonderful to have a party?" This, however, got her attention.

"What? No!" Josie hastily objected, her head having swiveled quickly towards her mother, her eyes wide in shock.

"Oh, but Josie, darling, it would be so much fun!"

"Mum…" Josie started, her voice filled with warning. "Don't you think that that's not a good idea, considering the current circumstances?"

"Nonsense! Sirius will fit right in. Oh we can invite all your friends, all of mine, some dignitaries your father knows. Oh it will be wonderful, Josie, don't ya think?" Josie vehemently shook her head.

"Mum, all my friends are away right now."

"Matthew isn't. Oh that boy is absolutely delightful. He's a good boyfriend, darling, picking you up from the train station." Josie groaned.

"He's not my boyfriend, Mum. He's just a friend. And the more you push us to be in a relationship, the longer we're going to resist, so just quit while you're ahead. Matt and I are not in a relationship and will never be in a relationship, got it?" Flossie fidgeted in her chair, clearly affronted.

"Young lady, that's no way to speak to your mother! I'm being nice here. If you don't want a party, fine. The party won't be for you. But, by god, I want a party. I need a distraction!"

"Florence," Joseph cut in, his voice weary. "That's enough." Instantly, Flossie stopped talking about a party. Silence resumed at the dinner table, but this time, it seemed too much for Josie to take.

"May I be excused?" She got up, not waiting for an answer and left the room. A few moments later, Mrs. Pierce swept in to get Henry ready for bed. Mr. Flanders left without a word and Mrs. Flanders wandered off in search of some more wine. Sirius sighed in the abandoned room. He desperately wanted to talk to James, to relate to him what was happening and to have a good laugh about it, but both he and Lily were in hiding. Seeing them at all was a risk, one that he wasn't willing to take after he had seen them only that morning. It was complicated enough getting in and out that morning undetected. For a moment, his thoughts drifted to the mirror he had among his belongings in the guest room he had been placed in—the two way one that would allow him to get in contact with his best friend. But who knows if James would have his around; he was always busy these days, raising a family and doing work for the Order. Sirius understood, he really did, but that didn't mean he was any less bitter about the fact that he and James seemed to be drifting apart.

Taking a drag of the cigarette, Josie visibly relaxed. She exhaled it out the window, careful to make sure that the smoke wouldn't blow back into her room. Not only would her mother have a fit, a rather hypocritical one, Josie thought, but so would Mrs. Pierce. She didn't smoke often, especially not while she was at school, but there was something about staying with her parents that made her crave a smoke.

"You know, smoking can kill you," a male voice said from her doorway, startling her so that her cigarette fell out of her hand and onto the street below.

"Bollocks," She turned to the intruder, her eyes landing on Sirius Black, and she frowned. "You owe me a fag." He shrugged, his hand reaching for his pocket and taking out his wand.

"Accio cigarette," he murmured and instantly, her cigarette came flying back through the window and into his hand. He walked forward, handing it to her. She plopped it back in her mouth, awe written across her face. With another flick of his wand, he had relight the cigarette.

"Handy thing, that magic stuff is," Josie commented, exhaling.

"Eh, sometimes," Sirius commented. "Other times, not so much. It gets to people's heads, the power, and then a war breaks out. People are killed on both sides. And what for?"

"It's the human way. Even without magic, we find way to kill each other. It's inevitable. There is nothing good about the human race."

"That's true I suppose. Lily's told me a bit about Muggle history. Seems to be just as bad as our own."

"Muggle?" Josie questioned.

"People who aren't magical. Not a bad term, just a statement of fact."

"Ah." Finishing her cigarette, Josie put it out against the window sill. "So, this Lily, she your girlfriend?" Sirius chuckled.

"No, not at all. She's my best mate's girl. Well, his wife now, I suppose."

"Do ya like her?" Sirius shrugged.

"She's good for James. They're good for each other." Josie turned to face him, to study him. His face was closed off.

"That doesn't answer my question. Do you like her?"

"As a friend," Sirius finally settled on a response. Satisfied with this, Josie nodded and turned back out to face the window.

"I'm sorry about this morning. I was acting like a brat. It was rude and unnecessary." Sirius frowned at this apology, said with such little emotion. Her voice was robotic, her face was blank, her posture stiff, like apologizing was a traumatic event that she needed to block out from her memory.

"It's okay." Sirius responded hesitantly. "Start over?" Josie nodded, sticking out her hand for him to shake.

"I'm Josie Flanders, disillusioned youth." A smile made its way onto her face and Sirius decided that he liked that expression much better than he liked her blank, emotionless face.

"Sirius Black, wizard extraordinaire," he joked with a wink. Josie laughed.

"It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

"So, Mr. Black," Josie said, taking out another cigarette and lighting it, "What do you magical people do for fun?" Sirius shrugged.

"We're in the middle of a war right now. Not much fun to be had."

"Come on now, there must be something you do to blow off a little steam." Sirius never got to reply because in that moment a car slowed down in front of Number 10 Downing Street, flashed its lights two times and sounded the horn with three short bursts.

"Well," Josie said, putting out her cigarette, "that's my cue to leave. We'll have to continue this conversation later."

"Where are you going?" Sirius asked.

"Out!" Josie called over her shoulder, exiting the room quietly. Not moving, Sirius continued to stare out the window and saw Josie sneak out and crawl into the front seat of the car. The car took off immediately; Josie's laughter echoing in the night was the only trace of her left behind.

A/N: Okay, so it's a little shorter than I would like and a lot more boring than I would like, but it is an update.

Feel free to leave me a review, yes? Please? Anything would suffice. You know you want to!

NaP