Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
A/N: Thanks everyone who is still reading and reviewing and of course MissBubbles for continuing to beta read for me.
Summary: Lost and sick in the middle of nowhere, Sirius falls into the hands of a woman whose secrets will tie inextricably into the fate of his godson. Sirius/OC.
The Complexities of the Heart
By katemary77
Chapter Eighteen
With no secrets and no obsession.
This time I'm speeding with no direction,
Without a reason, what is this fire?
Burning slowly. My one and only
Desire
You know me, you know my waiting
You just can't show me, but God I'm praying,
That you'll find me, and that you'll see me,
That you run and never tire.
Desire
- Desire, Ryan Adams
"Wakey, wakey, sunshine," Sirius whispered with a grin, leaning over Anna as she stirred, her face still pressed against the pillow.
"What time is it?" she murmured sleepily.
"Seven."
"Why are you waking me up so early? Lemme go back to sleep."
"It's Christmas morning!"
"Don't care… goodnight, Sirius…"
Sirius clucked his tongue and ripped the blankets off the bed.
"It's cold!" Anna shrieked, curling her body into a ball.
"That's because you're only wearing a t-shirt," Sirius pointed out. "Come on, Anna." He leant over to the drawers on the other side of the bed and pulled out a pair of soft, cotton pants which he then pulled onto Anna. She giggled into the pillow.
"Sirius, are you dressing me?"
He laughed, pulling socks and slippers onto her feet.
"Is this the Twilight Zone or something?" she continued, turning over to peek at him through her mussed hair. "Everything is happening backwards! Usually you're taking my clothes off."
He growled playfully and pulled her up, wrapping her dressing gown around her before picking her up completely, throwing her over his shoulder and ignoring her protesting yell.
"Hey! I'm awake, I'm awake! Put me down! Sirius!"
Sirius just shook his head silently and continued on toward the sitting room in which he had set up a huge Christmas tree. Underneath was an even huger pile of presents. The Weasleys, Harry, Hermione and Remus were gathered around – all in their pyjamas – laughing and joking and exchanging still-wrapped Christmas presents.
"Okay, we're here, you can start!" Sirius said, gently putting Anna back down on her feet.
"Good timing," Remus commented as they came and sat beside him, "We were just about to start without you."
Sirius grinned and began to enthusiastically unwrap his presents. Once he had a decent sized pile of Christmas goods beside him on the floor he looked to Anna, who was unwrapping the last present in her pile. It was a book from Hermione, entitled '1000 Greatest Films of All Time.'
"Thanks, Hermione!" Anna said, giving the younger girl a hug. "We've almost gotten through your list, this will be great!"
Sirius stood and made his way over to Anna. She looked up to him expectantly, waiting for him to speak. Sirius bent and kissed her on the cheek.
"I'll go and get your present now."
"Okay," she said happily, watching him leave the room. Two minutes later, Sirius came back in with a package so large it made Anna laugh aloud.
"What on earth is in there?" she asked, glancing over the metre-long, brightly wrapped box as he passed it to her.
"Careful, it's delicate," Sirius warned and she nodded, placing it on the ground and stripping the box of its red and gold Christmas paper. With her fingers, she pried the box open and laughed again at discovering what lay inside. Another box, this one wrapped in purple and silver. Anna raised her eyebrow at Sirius.
"And exactly how many boxes do I have to open before I get to the present inside?"
Sirius grinned and shrugged.
It turned out to be seven boxes, each only centimetres smaller than the last, before she got to the last box. By this stage the others had all finished with their presents and were watching, waiting with anticipation to see what Sirius had gotten her.
"Go on, open it," Sirius urged.
With a wry smile Anna pulled open the top flaps of the box and peered in.
"Oh. Sirius, she's gorgeous!"
She was a cat. Anna reached down into the box and gently pulled the kitten out. She had long, soft fur which was a motley brown and grey on her back while her chest and belly were snow white. Anna cradled the tiny thing to her chest.
"You remembered!" she said to Sirius as Hermione and Ginny came over to coo at the kitten, "When I said I always wanted a cat."
Sirius smiled and stroked his hand down the kitten's side. It purred and settled onto Anna's lap, closing her pale green eyes.
"My turn!" Sirius said with a gleeful grin.
Anna rolled her eyes and pointed to the last present under the Christmas tree; "For you."
Sirius' grin widened and he soon had ripped the pale gold wrapping from his gift.
"Er, thanks Anna," he told her with a furrowed brow. "I've always wanted a globe…"
Anna laughed and lightly smacked him upside the head.
"I charmed it, you dolt. Come here." He obliged, picking up the antique world globe and setting it on the coffee table in front of Anna. She stood beside him and drew her wand. "Now Sirius, if you could be anywhere in the world, where would you be?"
Sirius smiled.
"Somewhere exotic, somewhere sunny. Sardinia, or something."
Anna nodded and pointed her wand at the little island off the coast of Italy.
"Sardegna it is," she said, before whispering, "Ambitua illusiorius!"
A shaft of light shot out from Sardinia's place on the map, its brightness causing the rooms' occupants to close their eyes hastily. Slowly the light expanded until there was a dome of light spread across the room. A sweet, salty breeze brushed against Sirius' face and he felt sand spread underneath his feet.
He gasped and opened his eyes in shock. It was like one of the Muggle films he had taken to watching, but real, 3D, tangible. Ahead of him, he could see Remus and Harry, mouths open in awe. Sirius was standing on a white-sanded beach. Before him was a vast, crystal blue ocean and behind he could make out a small town built into the cliff face. He bent and dug his fingers into the fine sand, watching as it trickled through his fingers.
"Finite incantatum," Anna said softly beside him and the image faded back into the globe.
"Whoa."
Sirius' reverie was broken by Ron's exclamation.
"That was one wicked bit of magic!"
Hermione looked just as impressed; "What was that, Anna?"
"A modified Illusion Charm," she answered and grinned at Hermione, "I worked in the Experimental Charms Department at the Ministry after Hogwarts." She looked to Sirius who was standing still in the centre of the room, images of a Sardinian beach fresh in his mind. Surprisingly it was Ginny and not Molly who recognised that Anna and Sirius might need a moment alone and so stood, declaring that it was time for breakfast. When the room had cleared, Anna took Sirius' hand.
"You can go anywhere in the world," she said softly, "A specific place or just an impression of one, like a market or a beach or a forest. I thought that… seeing as you can't go out into the world, why not bring the world to you? Remember, Ambitua Illusiorius."
She turned to leave but Sirius caught her arm and pulled her back to him for a fierce kiss.
"Thank you, Anna."
She smiled; "Merry Christmas, Sirius."
She strode out of the room with her new kitten in her arms, securely shutting the door behind her.
Sirius took his wand out of his pocket, pointing the end of the shaft somewhere in Africa.
"Ambitua Illusiorius."
------------------
"Ceridwen? No you don't look like a Ceridwen. Freya? No, you don't look like a Freya either. And I certainly can't call you Minerva… that would just be weird."
Anna sighed and flicked her wand, sending the sock she had charmed flying higher around the as-of-yet unnamed kitten who was watching it slyly from where she was curled on Anna's chest.
"Well, I've run out of goddesses," Anna told the tiny thing. "What about something Arthurian?" The kitten seemed to purr in agreement. "Morgana? Hmm, she was a bit evil. Isolde? She was a bit tragic. What about Guinevere?" The kitten stopped purring. Anna laughed. "Yes, she was a bit of a floozy." Anna rubbed her new familiar under the chin and thought of the fairy tales her mother had told her as a child. "What about Nimue? You look like you could be a Nimue." The kitten purred louder and stood, coming forward to butt her head against Anna's cheek. She laughed again. "Settled!"
"What's settled?" Sirius asked, coming into the room.
Anna held the kitten up and presented her to Sirius.
"Sirius, meet Nimue."
Nimue meowed a hello.
Sirius chuckled; "And how long did it take you to pick that name?"
"Only a couple of hours," she said, shrugging in reply. "What's going on?"
"Everybody's just left to see Arthur. They'll be back in a couple of hours."
"Ooh, so we have the house to ourselves?" Anna asked, waggling her eyebrows suggestively and leering over at Sirius.
"Barring any catastrophes, I'd say we do," he returned, coming to where she lay on the bed and leaning over her with a grin. "How about we go and enjoy this lovely weather we've been having?"
She frowned; "Sirius, it's raining."
"Not in Australia it isn't."
------------------
Anna, prowling through the dark, gloomy, Christmas-festooned corridors of Grimmauld Place, was looking for a certain Gryffindor Prefect.
"Ron!" she said, bursting into the upstairs drawing room to find a shock of red hair. "You wouldn't happen to know where your esteemed colleague in prefect-dom is, would you?"
"Hermione?"
Anna nodded.
Ron rolled his eyes, "Last I saw her was after dinner. She and Ginny were having girl talk in one of the lounges downstairs. They told Harry and me to chuff off."
Anna laughed; "Count yourself lucky, Ron, I doubt you and Harry want to hear 'girl talk', in any case. Where did Harry go to hide?"
"I think he's with Sirius and Prof- sorry, Remus," Ron answered, "Remus found an old photo album of them at Hogwarts, they're showing Harry."
"Okay. Thanks for the update, Ron, I'll go and find the girls."
"Good luck," he called as she left the room, "And be careful!"
Anna laughed and walked downstairs towards the room which Ron had mentioned. As she neared the door, Anna could hear Hermione's dulcet tones echoing down the hallway.
"Honestly, Ginny, your brother is impossible! I try my hardest to keep things civil but every other minute it's 'Vicky this' and 'Vicky that.' Honestly!"
"You said that already," Ginny said with a smirk. She saw Anna over Hermione's shoulder and rolled her eyes, clearly expressing what Anna was thinking; When will Hermione realise how much Ron likes her?
Anna grinned and took a seat beside Hermione on the lounge.
"Boy troubles?"
Ginny rolled her eyes again; "Hermione is waxing lyrical about my brother again."
Anna smiled.
"And you, Miss Weasley? You're too pretty to have no boy troubles."
"Ginny has a boyfriend!" Hermione teased, grinning when the redhead stuck her tongue out impishly.
Anna felt her eyebrows rise; "You and Harry are going – "
"Oh no," Hermione said quickly, "Ginny is going out with a Ravenclaw, Michael Corner."
The older witch looked between the two Gryffindors, frowning. Hermione looked flustered and Ginny was pretending to be nonchalant. Anna knew better.
"But I thought – never mind," Anna said eventually, "Tell me all about him, then! And after we can tackle Hermione's Ron-related riddles."
For a moment Anna worried that she might be intruding, but the two girls grinned and snuggled into a closer circle around Anna. Soon, she had conjured blankets and pillows, transformed their clothes into pyjamas and had summoned tubs of ice-cream and blocks of Honeyduke's best from the kitchen.
Sometime around eleven o'clock there was a soft knock on the door and a shirtless Sirius poked his head in, asking if Anna was coming to bed anytime soon. Grinning at the looks Hermione and Ginny were giving each other, Anna tossed a pillow at Sirius and shouted, "Get out! Girls only! You're going to bed alone tonight, buddy." He pouted but made quick with his exit.
They sat and giggled into each others shoulders until well into the early morning hours.
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It was New Year's Eve and the various residents (temporary or permanent) of Grimmauld Place had gathered in the largest lounge room of the house, where the Christmas tree still twinkled merrily. Arthur (who had been released from hospital the day before) and Molly were talking quietly with their eldest son in the corner over a bottle of wine and the kids were playing the Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes version of poker, bottles of Butterbeer grasped loosely in hands as Molly hadn't allowed them anything stronger, (although Sirius had been sneaking them Butterbeer Extra on the sly). Anna was reading with a glass of elderflower wine and Sirius and Remus were playing a particularly vicious game of chess and alternately hexing Anna's book so it changed from North and South to Sunset's Seductions, the cover of which featured a brawny wizard grasping a witch with a bulging bosom in his thick arms.
"Do you remember New Years in Seventh Year?" Sirius asked Remus, giggling into his Firewhiskey, "When we made Lily try gillyweed?"
Remus snorted. "I thought she was going to have a heart attack! But then she just giggled for two hours straight, staring at the sparks coming out of her wand."
"Would you STOP IT!" Anna finally yelled, flinging her mutilated book (which now sported Margaret Hale and Mr. Thornton stripped down to their underthings and locked in a passionate embrace on the cover) at Sirius' head. He lurched to the left to avoid the missile and so fell off his chair, giggling like a schoolgirl. With disgust, Remus dropped a few coins on the table. He had thought Anna would hold out a little bit longer than she had. "I'm trying to read!" the irate woman was shouting.
"But that's boring!" Sirius whined. "Come and play with me! Help me beat Moony."
Rolling her eyes and muttering about who was the older half of their relationship, Anna came over and sat on the arm of Sirius' chair. When he settled back in he made a harrumph of annoyance and pulled her over into his lap.
"Sirius! Let me go, you cad!"
"Oooohh!" six slightly tipsy kids chorused. "Hubba hubba!"
Anna stuck her tongue out at them as she stood from Sirius' embrace and walked over to the mini bar Sirius and Remus had conjured for the night, pouring herself a gillywater. Taking the glass to her lips, she moved to the window and stared out into the night. Tiny flecks of white were swirling around in the black outside and it took Anna a moment to realise what she was seeing.
"Hey everyone, it's snowing out there!"
"Really!"
There was a rush to get to the window. It had been unseasonably warm in London this year and the weather had been refusing to snow, disappointing all who had come from the white-covered splendour of Hogwarts.
"Let's go out! Let's go out!" Ginny cried, a sentiment echoed by the other Gryffindors.
"It's freezing out!" Molly exclaimed in protest. "You'll catch your death!"
Ron rolled his eyes, "That's what magic is for, Mum."
"Come on, Molly," Arthur said, wrapping his arm around his wife's waist, "It's New Years!"
"Well, alright," she relented grudgingly. "But bundle up!"
There was a resounding cheer as everyone went to grab coats, scarves and gloves. Anna followed Sirius up to their room and watched him in silence as he pulled his coat over his shirt.
"I love you," she said suddenly.
Sirius smiled and moved over to her, buttoning up her navy pea coat.
"And I love you," he said into her mouth when he kissed her. "Come on." Sirius took Anna by the hand and dragged her out of the room. As they walked to the back door of the house that led to the yard they came upon Harry and his friends. "C'mere, Pronglet!"
Harry grinned and hung back, waiting for the couple. When they reached him, Sirius threw his arm casually around the boy and walked out into the snowy night with him. When they reached the back garden, which was slowly turning white with snow, Sirius whipped out his wand and cast Warming Charms on the three of them before swishing it towards the large oak trees that dotted the yard, conjuring fairy lights into each of them to light up the outside space.
Harry grinned; "I love magic."
Sirius laughed and bent down to the ground, scooping a handful of snow into his hand and rounding it rapidly.
"Snow ball fight!" he cried, before launching the missile at his unsuspecting godson. Harry spluttered in shock for a moment, shaking the cold snow from his face, before he grinned wickedly at his godfather and let out a loud war cry.
Anna shrieked and leaped out of the way from the maelstrom of snowballs that had just erupted into the peaceful air. She backed away until she reached Hermione and Ginny, who were both crouched behind a bush, loading up on ammunition before joining the battle.
"Smart girls," Anna commented.
"Come," Hermione intoned in a deep voice, "Join the Sisterhood of the Purple…er, Wand."
Anna shook her head and said, "You're silly, Hermione," but bent down in the snow and began packing snowballs together.
The snowball fight seemed to last for hours. Eventually, three strongholds emerged; the girls, Harry, Ron and his twin brothers and Remus and Sirius. When Bill came out of the house, however, and joined his brothers, Sirius stood from behind the snow fortress he and Remus had built.
"Cover me, Moony!" he shouted, before turning towards the bush-enforced battlements of the Purple Wand Sisterhood and crying, "Gryffindor sisters! On behalf of the Maturing Marauders," (Anna giggled), "I propose an alliance – oomf - between our two clans! The Brothers of Red Hair are too strong! We must band together to defeat their tyranny!"
Anna looked to Hermione and Ginny. They both nodded and so she stood and called out, "We accept your proposal, good sir, and will cover you as you flee to our fortress as ours is stronger than thine!"
Sirius winked and counted to three before he and Remus dashed across the no-mans land of their war, skidding to a halt in behind the snow-barricades the girls had built. Anna laughed and Sirius gave her a sloppy kiss.
"Now, now, no time for that, we're in the midst of battle here!" Remus snapped in what Sirius called his 'Professor Moony' voice. "Anna, your aim is terrible, make more ammunition! Sirius, aim for their fortress, we need to break it! Ginny, keep throwing, you have good aim, Hermione, sorry, but I think you should help Anna."
"Aye, aye, Captain!" Sirius cried, then went about hurling snowballs at Harry, Bill, Ron and the twins. Soon, however, he got bored of simply hitting a snow-barricade and began to turn on his team mates.
"Mutiny!" Anna cried, pointing at Sirius. "Mutiny in the ranks!"
He laughed and it became a free-for-all again and soon enough the twins were counting down.
"10 – 9 – 8 – 7 – 6 – 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1! HAPPY NEW YEAR!"
At this point, Sirius had Anna pinned against the trunk of an oak and was gleefully stuffing snow down her back. He leaned in and kissed her deeply before nuzzling her neck until she shivered.
"Happy New Year, Anna," he said softly.
She smiled back at him and then with a wider grin dumped the handful of snow she had hidden behind her on his head.
"Happy New Year, Sirius."
A/N: Reviewing makes the world go round. Why don't you help it along?