"So, let me get this straight," Lupin started, rubbing his eyes with the pads of his thumb and forefinger. "She pulled you into one of the spare bedrooms and began feeling you up, but stopped when you realized -and subsequently freaked out- that it was her, and she went running. And now you're upset because… why?"
Sirius huffed out an impatient sigh. "Because I fucked up, clearly! She was right bloody there! And what did I do? I cock blocked myself!" With that declaration, he flung himself dramatically backwards onto one of the couches, pulling a pillow over his face and attempting to smother himself.
"Is there any way to even come back from that? I just know she's gonna avoid me now! Ugh! I'm royally fucked up the arse!"
If Remus hadn't had his wolfish hearing, he would have had no idea what his friend had just said. As it was, it was still pretty garbled.
"Mate, can you blame her? She made a move and you lost your ever-loving mind; you scared her off and probably wounded her pride a bit. Can you think of what would have made her grow so bold as to do something like that, though? Not to say that she couldn't possibly be attracted to you, because she could. Despite the age difference. I'm only wondering 'cause honestly, it doesn't sound much like something she would do. She isn't that brazen. She isn't the kind to leap without a plan of action, or some factor that causes her to believe it to be a good idea."
Sirius frowned pensively at that, and though back on the events that had lead up to the situation in the bedroom. Hermione had shown up early in the day to go out for a birthday brunch with Harry, all the Weasleys, Sirius, and the Lupins. There had been some mild flirting between the two of them, but nothing different than what they always engaged in. And it wasn't like she just flirted with him, anyways; she flirted with the others as well -Fred, George, Ron, and even occasionally Harry. Besides, Sirius considered it more of playful banter than all out flirtation. He knew all about the various kinds of flirting that could be done, and he always kept his and Hermione's interactions on the tame side of the line, for propriety's sake.
Then after their meal, everyone had split up; most of the men went back to work, Tonks took little Teddy home for a nap, and Hermione came back to Grimmauld Place to help Ginny and her mother with decorating for the party later in the evening. Sirius had attempted to stay out of the Weasley matriarch's way while she cooked and barked out orders to the two young women, preferring to spend time with Harry, Ron, and Remus. The guys all decided that a mid-afternoon game of two-on-two quidditch was a good idea, so they'd spent a good few hours outside in the fresh air.
After that, everyone had trooped inside to shower and change for the party. It was then that Sirius remembered next seeing Hermione. He had been walking towards a nice, hot shower, his old Hogwarts quidditch uniform shirt and an old pair of jeans sticking to his sweaty body, when he'd been forced to a halt when he'd come across the most awe-inspiring vision. He'd even blinked a few times and pinched himself discreetly, just to make sure he was really seeing what he thought he was. Hermione was in the library, laid out on a couch -the very one he was currently laying on, actually- with her legs crossed and draped over the back, bare feet swinging in the air, even as her curls spilled onto the floor from where her head dipped over the seat cushions. Her nose was buried in a book that she had charmed to float in place above her, which left her hands free to knit what looked to be a scarf of some sort -probably part of Harry's gift, if he had to take a guess. From where he stood frozen in the doorway, he could see that gravity had shifted her denim skirt further up her thighs, and he found he was at the best vantage point to ogle her breasts as they began to spill from her top. Praise Merlin for tits and gravity! Sirius had thought he was going to have a heart attack right there, and end up being found dead with the fiercest erection of his life.
Before he could make a fool of himself, he'd forced himself away from the tantalizing view before him and consoled himself with a good, hard wank in the shower. He'd felt much better after. After securing his towel around his waist, he'd made his way upstairs to his room, whistling as he went. He didn't notice anyone else on the landing, and nor did he feel a pair of amber eyes follow him as he made his way back to his room upstairs.
By the time he'd gotten dressed, people had already begun to show up. Weasleys were scattered throughout the party space magicking final touches into place. He'd dashed around excitedly, helping out as he went, all the while making his way down into the kitchen to retrieve one of his bottles of Ogden's that he'd set out in preparation for the evening. After all, Harry was only going to be twenty once, and what better way to acknowledge that than with a finely aged firewhisky?
Just before entering the room, he'd heard a clatter and hushed cursing. He poked his head curiously around the door and smirked at what greeted him: Hermione, standing on the kitchen counter barefoot, her shoes abandoned haphazardly on the stone floor, frantically trying to corral a very terrified fledgling owl away from the massive cake that Molly had spent all of yesterday on. Feathers were flying everywhere, and Sirius realized with amusement that Molly must've put some sort of modified shield charm around the cake to keep dust and other debris off, as not a single feather was landing on the cake itself.
"Elfric, please calm down! I'm not going to hurt you. I just need to get you back into your cage before Harry spots you." The brunette sang gently, slowly attempting to reach out and nab the little creature. As soon as her hands came within a few inches of him, the little owl hooted frantically and rose higher into the air, causing Hermione to hiss out a string of expletives in frustration. Sirius chortled at this, and she whirled around to see who was laughing at her misfortune, only to begin to lose her balance in the process. Sirius rushed forwards and reached out both hands to help brace her, one on her calve, the other higher up on her hip. It seemed to have worked, as she stopped wobbling, and Sirius quickly withdrew his hands, suddenly unsure what to do with himself.
"Thank you, for that." Hermione breathed out unsteadily, brushing back a curl from her eye line. "Teddy let the little bugger out, and he's been running from me for fifteen minutes now."
"Owls don't run, Hermione. Surely you know that, being the 'brightest witch of the age' and all." Sirius quipped. Hermione's only response was to shoot him a withering glare and stick her pink tongue out at him. He grinned; he rather liked saucy Hermione.
"Fine, he's been flying out of reach every time I get close. Happy now?" she asked.
"I was happy before, being able to point out you being wrong about something, but thank you for asking anyway. Why don't you just use magic to get him back in. You are a witch after all."
Hermione shut her eyes, deciding to ignore his newest jibe. Once she'd mastered herself, she turned and looked down at him with her best dead-level glare. "Gee, I wish I'd only thought of that! Golly, what would I do without you here to help me, Sirius? How ever would I survive? Oh, wait, I forgot: I already tried that! He freaks out every time I go to point my wand at him, so I decided to do this the Muggle way."
She determinedly turned back to face off against the little white owl, who had roosted upon the top of the cabinetry in the very corner where no human could possibly reach.
Sirius stood back, content to just stare at her arse and shapely legs as she maneuvered her way towards the creature, around the cake and other various foodstuffs on the counter.
"You know, you could help me catch the bloody thing, rather than leering at my arse, Sirius." She huffed, shooting a sly look over her shoulder in order to catch the look of abashed shock on his face.
"What's the fun in that, kitten?" he asked, attempting to control the levelness of his voice, and school his features back into a mask of complete indifference as he walked forwards to assist her. "I'm at your service, madam. I live to serve; Use me as your heart desires." At that, Hermione had glared down at him in full force, hands on hips. "If all you have is quips…" she threatened.
Turning back to the problem at hand, she frowned, thinking how to get the little bird out of his hidey-hole. "Sirius, can you hand me one of those bacon and cheddar pinwheels, please?"
Sirius scanned the counter, looking for the savory pastry. Upon finding them, he grabbed one up and handed it to her.
"Alright, his cage is on the table. Grab it, and be ready for me, okay? I'm going to see if I can lure him to me with the food."
Sirius summoned the cage to him and opened the door, holding it rather like a muggle catcher holds his mitt.
"Here, Elfric. Come here, boy. I won't hurt you." Hermione cooed, holding out the food she had pinched between her thumbs and forefingers, offering both hands together so she wouldn't startle the owl as much when she grabbed for him. She was stretched as far as she could go, her upper body pressed into the front of the cabinets as she tried to maintain her balance on the balls of her feet. The fledgling slowly hopped towards the treat, hooting nervously. As soon as he began to partake of the offering, Hermione dropped her hold on it, her hands instead encircling his tiny body in a loose yet restrictive grip. Elfric realized he'd been played, and began hooting and screeching indignantly, attempting to get his wings free as he pecked and bit at Hermione's defenseless hands.
"Quickly, Sirius!" she cried, twisting at the waist to deposit the bird into his cage. Sirius snapped the door shut and charmed the lock as soon as metal hit metal. "Teddy can have fun trying to get him out now!" He crowed happily, walking over to place the cage on the tabletop. Elfric was glaring at both of them, his feathers ruffled. With a quick shiver of his wings, he studiously turned, ignoring the two, and went back to his prize, snapping happily at the bits of bacon.
"Glad he recovered so easily," Hermione sighed, looking down at her appearance. She looked like she'd been put through the wringer: her hair was disheveled, her hands and wrists scratched and bloody, and she even had a slash across her right cheek, although Sirius couldn't imagine when she'd gotten that one.
"Here, let me help you down and get you cleaned up." Sirius offered, holding out his hands near her waist to carry her back down to the ground. He waited for her to use her own hands to guide his to the curve of her waist, where he grabbed on tightly before pulling her forward off the counter and into the safety of his body, lowering her as he went. When her feet touched the ground, he realized exactly how close she now was, her breasts grazing his chest, her hands lightly on the tops of his shoulders from where she'd placed them for balance, her lips inches away from his own. Before he could consider what he was doing, he pressed his lips into hers, molding and manipulating her rosy mouth the way he'd only acknowledged wanting to do in the recesses of his mind, late at night when no one would catch him with his hand around his cock.
A thundering racket reached their ears, denoting the fact that someone was tromping their way downstairs to where they stood, in a very compromising position. Sirius reluctantly broke the coupling, holding her a bit further away, attempting to ignore the look of shock and -unexpectedly- arousal in her eyes.
"Come on upstairs, everyone's officially here, and the party's starting." Ron crowed from the kitchen entrance, completely oblivious to the tension permeating the room. Sirius released his hold on her, the moment stolen from him with Ron's unceremonious intrusion into their… what was it? What the hell had that been? It didn't matter, he reminded himself, as he stole away, determined to get a better grip on himself before he saw Hermione next. He didn't want there to be any awkward conversations.
"Good god, look at you! You look a fright!" Ron said, taking in her appearance for the first time. "Let's get those cuts taken care of; I'll let you fix your hair yourself. Bird's a menace…" Ron chortled, shaking his head at the now docile bird.
"Still, at least you caught him. Didn't think that would ever happen."
Hermione stared beyond the door with a curious gleam in her eyes. "I didn't either, Ron… I thought he'd run forever."
Remus stared open mouthed at his best friend. His eyes had gotten wider and wider as Sirius came out with the sordid details of the day. Merlin! He'd known they flirted, but he never knew just how intense it got when they were the only ones to witness it. He'd have to keep his ears up in the future...
"I'm pretty sure we've figured out exactly how she came to be of the mindset that throwing herself at you would go over well." He chuckled quietly, beginning to shake with uncontrollable laughter at the stricken look on the animagus' face.
Author's Note:
So, I can't even say how pleased I am with how well this was received. This started out as a private writing exercise, just trying to get me back in the flow after my ridiculously long hiatus thanks to the death of my computer (I still don't have one, actually -I'm borrowing from a friend as needed). I even debated if I should publish it. I'm so glad I did! Sure, two reviews, a favorite, and five follows in less than 20 hours isn't exactly going to break the record books, but it means the world to me, which is partly why I was able to work through and get an update so quickly. I'm attempting to stop myself from being so OCD and anal about my editing, rather letting the words out, however they decide to present themselves to me, so if you notice something off -maybe a sentence doesn't read right or what have you- just let me know! Keep the reviews coming! 3