A/N: I borrowed the idea of a wing clamp from the brilliant novel Convivium by Andi Sydenham.
Chapter Three: Three Little Words
Sirius and Doriel were snogging for a good hour when the angel suddenly jumped to her feet. "It's almost noon! I have to go!" She started flapping her wings and hovered a few feet above him. "May we kiss some more tomorrow?"
"I look forward to it," Sirius said, rising. "Oh, don't forget your sandals." He handed her the shoes and she gave him a final peck on the lips in thanks.
"By the way your whiskers tickle," Doriel said giggling before she turned and flew halfway down the block before disappearing.
The hours of the day were honored by the angels in charge of them through song offered up to God—the Maker of all the hours of the day. After reluctantly leaving Sirius's side, Doriel gathered with her fellow Cherubim and sang clearer and sweeter than any of her seventy-one fellow angels of midday. She was certain God could hear the love in her voice and would not object to her growing affection for the mortal Wizard. After all, Sirius had kissed her for an hour and no one appeared to tell them to stop. Doriel sighed inwardly. Oh, his kisses! She wanted to thank the mortal who invented that most pleasant of all diversions.
Doriel managed to convince herself rather easily that Michael surely would have called for her if he objected to her behavior and there was only one reason why he had not—Michael knew that what she was feeling for Sirius was love not lust. Surely not even the chief Archangel could object to the presence of more love in Heaven.
Every day for a week after that she and Sirius met by the pond to talk, hold hands, and kiss and everyday she fell more in love with him.
For Sirius Doriel was unlike any woman he had ever met. Her innocence and straightforwardness were a breath of fresh air, but he was careful not to let things get out of hand. As much as he wanted to, he didn't try to move the relationship past kissing. According to his friends, it was all right if mortal couples made love in the privacy of their own heavenly homes, but he doubted if that extended to a mortal and an angel. Perhaps that's why none of Doriel's superiors had objected to their relationship and Sirius wanted to keep it that way. For the first time in a long time he wasn't alone and he found his sweet angel to be a most sympathetic listener.
"The Dementors that guarded Azkaban sucked every bit of happiness or hope straight out of the prisoners," he explained.
Doriel stroked his hair soothingly. "I imagine that is what Hell must be like—the only place hidden from the Light of God. How did you survive it?"
Sirius then admitted something he had never told anyone before. "I thought about taking my own life or just not eating and dying of starvation, but I couldn't bring myself to give up."
"If it wasn't hope that kept you going, what did?" she asked.
He gave her a grim smile. "Revenge—against the Wizard who framed me for his crimes, against the Ministry, against the world for allowing my friends James and Lily to be killed. Revenge is what kept me going. Sometimes I wonder if I ended up in the right place."
Doriel's golden eyes went wide. "Please don't say that, Sirius! Of course you're in the right place." She touched the tattoo on his neck. "What are these markings?"
"It's my prisoner number that was burned into me when I was first thrown into Azkaban." He opened his shirt and showed her the tattoos on his chest. "These I gave myself during my incarceration. I was in solitary confinement and these tattoos helped protect me from the effects of the Dementors and kept me somewhat sane."
As he described the meaning of each tattoo, Doriel traced them with her finger. Her feather-light touch made his nether regions tingle. By her naïve expression Sirius could tell she had no idea what she was doing to him. His breath caught in his throat when she trailed her finger down to his solar plexus. Grasping her hand gently he brought it to his lips.
Sirius then took her face in his hands and kissed her tenderly. "I want you to come to dinner tonight and meet my friends."
"But I do not need to eat," Doriel pointed out.
"Neither do we, but it's pleasurable just the same."
"All right," she replied. "I will meet your friends and eat your food tonight."
He smiled. "Then it's settled. By at my house at six."
When Doriel arrived that evening for dinner, she said a quick hello to the Potters and the Lupins before throwing her arms around Sirius's neck and kissing him passionately. After a few moments Sirius extricated himself from her ardent embrace.
"I'm glad to see you too, Doriel," he said, his cheeks burning pink. James and Remus started to snicker as if the Marauders were all back at school.
Nymphadora rolled her eyes and tried not to laugh herself. "Now that Sirius has had his before-dinner tonsillectomy, I'm Tonks and this is Lily. These two overgrown adolescents are our husbands Remus and James."
"It is a great pleasure to meet you all." The angel spread her wings wide, while a golden light magically appeared behind her and then, in that booming voice which made them all tremble and caused the house to shake, she announced, "I am Doriel of the Cherubim, one of seventy-two angels in charge of the hour of noon!" She then tucked in her wings and said in a small voice. "But you may call me Doriel."
"I think I'm beginning to understand why angels always start with 'Do not be afraid' whenever they appear to mortals," said Remus.
Once the Potters and the Lupins had gotten over the shock of seeing an angel in full aspect, Sirius invited them to sit down to a sumptuous feast that magically appeared, much like at Hogwarts, though Sirius knew better than to compare angels to house elves.
"So you're one of the Cherubim, like Cherubs, right?" Tonks asked.
"Yes, but not all of us are Cherubs, as you can see," Doriel explained as she tentatively speared a piece of Yorkshire pudding with her fork. "The Archangel Michael, with God's approval, thought it best to start making us in the image of winged babies." She stuffed the entire piece in her mouth and proclaimed: "Mmmm, food is good!"
"Why is that?" Lily asked. "About the cherubs, I mean, not the food."
Sirius handed Doriel a glass of wine to wash down the Yorkshire pudding. After declaring wine the best drink ever she replied, "Because the Cherubim, more than any of the other eight choirs of angels in the celestial hierarchy are susceptible to the allure of mortals."
Sirius grinned. "So that's why you like me. And here I thought it was my irresistible charm and good looks."
"Oh, Sirius," Doriel said, her face flushed from the wine. "I don't just like you, I love you!"
James and Remus both started coughing, while the color drained from Sirius's face. He gave his friends an awkward glance, then turned to face Doriel. "You don't love me, how could you? We haven't known each other that long."
"I know my own heart, Sirius!" Doriel said with sadness and a touch of anger that was incongruous with her gentle nature. "Remember, I am thousands of years older than you and I have never felt this longing—this pain inside me before!"
"I'm so sorry," Sirius said sincerely. "I do care for you, but I didn't mean to lead you on."
Tears started streaming down Doriel's face. "But the way you kissed me—I thought for certain you loved me too." She jumped from her chair and started flapping her wings. "I'll not bother you again." With that she disappeared.
"Doriel!" Sirius called after her. "Please come back!"
"Great dinner party, Sirius," James said sarcastically. "Next time can you wait until after dessert before you break the angel's heart?"
Doriel flew without knowing or caring where she was going. Finally she found a lonely corner of Heaven in which to land. She curled up in a tearful ball using her wings as a blanket, then fell into a dreamless sleep. When she awoke, the Archangel Uriel was standing above her in full armor. Behind him stood two of the Angels of Punishment, Shoftiel and Rogziel. Shoftiel held up a torturous device Doriel had not seen since the Great War in Heaven—a wing clamp.
"You are under arrest for the sin of carnal lust." Uriel motioned to the other two angels who grabbed Doriel roughly. She screamed as they applied the steel clamp to her wings, which prevented her from flying or disappearing. The pain the device caused was almost too much for her to bear, but did nothing to relieve the aching in her heart caused by Sirius's rejection.
To be continued…
Please be sure to tell me what you think!