Attraction
Róisín waited impatiently by the door for Sirius to arrive.
The month of January had passed by in a blur, followed quickly by February. As March rolled around, Róisín fell far behind her classmates - not only in Dueling in the Dark but also in Concealment and Disguise. While everybody else had been learning increasingly complex jinxes, hexes and charms, she had been sitting on the sidelines taking notes in a sad notebook. While the others had learned how to transfigure into random disguises and convincingly lie their way through a whole conversation, Róisín, with her broken foot preventing her from transfiguring, had had to rely on her pure acting skills alone, of which she had none. She was terrified for her grades.
But, on the good side, she continued to excel in Deduction, which had always been her strong suit. And her cast had finally been removed a week prior, allowing her a chance to begin her private tutoring with Sirius.
Sirius. Where was he?
She had tried to put some distance between them since realising that it wouldn't be wise to keep pining over him. Cynthia had been the first one she had confided in when she began to notice her attraction to him in earnest.
"Oh, Cynthia, help me!" Róisín had cried one afternoon as she collapsed down on their lumpy sofa, chucking her casts to one side with a clatter. "He's just too pretty for his own good!"
"Who are we talking about, now?" Cynthia asked as she handed Róisín a glass of wine and sunk into the sofa next to her, wincing at the uncomfortable sofa springs.
"Sirius Black, of course!" Róisín took a long sip of her wine, shaking her head softly as she gulped. "I don't know how it took me so long to see it! He's just so stunning."
"So you're finally admitting that you have a crush on him?" Cynthia asked with a cheeky grin. Róisín nodded slowly and Cynthia yelped in delight.
"I should have listened to you! You spotted it weeks before I did."
"Cynthia always knows best." Cynthia grinned wider and winked. "So what are you going to do about it?"
"Do about it?" Róisín asked.
"What's your move? What's your plan?"
"My plan is to ignore him and try get rid of these feelings!" Róisín cried. "I can't - I just can't have feelings for our tutor!"
"But why not?" Cynthia protested. "Come on, it would add a bit of fun to this scholarship. We're going to be in London for the next eighteen months - you may as well have some fun with it!"
"Because!" Róisín paused, flustered. "Because... it would be weird!" she huffed. "Besides, it's probably against the rules or something."
"Do you want me to check the rules for you?" Cynthia asked, taking a cheeky sip of wine.
"No!"
"Why not? Are you afraid that it won't be?"
Róisín shrugged, casting her eyes down to her glass.
"Oh no..." Cynthia grinned widely. "You're afraid that it will be against the rules, and then you'll only want him more!"
"You've lost me," Róisín sighed.
"Remember when you found out you're allergic to peanuts? And then you became obsessed with peanuts, even though every time you ate them, your cheeks would puff up and get all red? That's what Sirius Black is to you - the more you try and ignore him, the more you want him!"
Cynthia's ridiculous peanut allegory stuck in Róisín's mind for weeks. Sure, Sirius had begun to consume her thoughts as of late... but that didn't mean anything, did it?
If dating a tutor on the programme was against the rules, then that was that. Róisín would just have to accept the fact and move on.
If, however, it was not...
Róisín shook her head, abandoning the thought from her brain. She stood still by the door, waiting impatiently for Sirius to ring the doorbell. Now that her cast had finally been removed and she could walk properly, she had taken Sirius up on the offer of private tutoring in Dueling in the Dark to catch her up to her fellow classmates. Even though it would mean seeing a lot more of Sirius, Róisín desperately needed to catch up on all of the practice she had missed, so they had agreed to meet on weekday evenings.
Their interactions over the past month had been limited by Róisín as soon as she realised she was catching feelings for Sirius. She was never rude, of course, but she tried to avoid seeing Sirius outside of the Auror Department when she could. In the office, she kept their interactions as professional as she could, always trying not to let her eyes settle for too long on the adorable way his hair curled around his cheekbones or on the way his lips looked so shiny and kissable. Did he wear lip balm? He probably did. Róisín had spotted Sirius on more than one occasion checking his hair in his reflection in a spoon or on the back of a metal plate. He was so self-absorbed... but he was equally totally committed to his job, a quality which Róisín admired.
Their most recent encounter had been in the Leaky Cauldron. A few days after her cast had been removed, Róisín's class went to the pub for Friday night drinks and Sirius had approached Róisín and Cynthia by the bar.
"Róisín!" he said, prompting her to turn around and lean against the bar, her elbows perched on the wood. He normally wore a long velvet jacket, but tonight he had swapped it out for a black waistcoat with a white shirt. Róisín tried to ignore how well it accentuated his figure.
Sirius motioned towards her foot, a pint of ale in his hand. "How about those dueling lessons? Offers still on the table."
"She'll take them!" Cynthia said, a wide grin spread across her cheeks. "Won't you, Róisín?"
Both sets of eyes on Róisín, all she could do was nod sheepishly and say quietly, "Er... yes. Thank you, Sirius."
Sirius beamed. "I'll pop by yours on Monday evening. Can I get either of you a drink?"
"We'll take a Firewhiskey each, if you're paying," Cynthia said.
"Two shots of Firewhiskey!" Sirius called to the bartender as he approached the bar and stood next to Róisín. He glanced down at her and held her gaze for a moment, before adding, "Bartender - make that three, please."
The bartender nodded and got to work pouring their drinks.
"So how are you both liking London?" Sirius asked.
"It's fantastic-" Róisín began.
"Can you point us in the direction of the nearest and best club?" Cynthia interrupted.
"Well, the nearest would be Ruby, which is just down Diagon Alley," Sirius waved vaguely in the direction of the door, "but the best one, in my opinion, is actually a Muggle one which is called Metropolis."
"We know what we're doing next Friday night, so!" Cynthia replied.
The bartender put their Firewhiskeys on the bar in front of them and they each took their shot in synch. Sirius glanced at the opposite end of the bar, where he spotted Potter raising an incredulous eyebrow at him.
"I'd better get back," he said to the girls. "You both enjoy your night!"
"Thank you for the drink," Cynthia replied.
"Anytime," he said. Then, with a smile directed only at Róisín, he brushed his hand against her lower back for a moment and added, in a softer voice, "I'll see you Monday evening."
Still waiting by the front door, Róisín felt her skin tingle where Sirius had touched her as she remembered that night. She glanced at the clock and huffed: he was late!
She could recount every time they had touched over the past couple of months. The first time had, of course, been when he had helped her with her crutches the day she was injured. The second had been in the Auror Department office when she had been hobbling around on just one crutch and had dropped her purse on the floor, its contents spilling out over the floor.
Dreadfully embarrassed, she had kneeled down to the floor with great difficulty and begun reassembling her bag, while trying not to get in the way of all of the other Aurors bustling around her. Sirius had approached her with a kind smile and offered to help her back up onto her feet. He had offered her his hand, which she gratefully accepted, and pulled her back up off the floor, making sure she was comfortably leaning against a desk before passing her her crutch.
The third time had been in the Leaky Cauldron on yet another Friday night drinks session when Sirius, crowded by a few from the class, had been telling more stories of his escapades among the Muggles, much to his parents' disapproval.
"One time I was going out with a Muggle girl who was totally obsessed with palm reading," he had said, opening his palm out on the table for the others to see. Róisín peered over the top of her wine glass as Sirius explained the theory and the meaning of all of the five palm lines.
"So who wants a free reading?" he asked, much to the excitement of the group. He read everyone's palms in turn and, when Róisín was the only one left, he looked at her with a grin and asked, "Do you want a reading too?"
Róisín shrugged dismissively and said, "Yeah, alright. But I don't believe any of this means anything!"
"It's just for fun," Sirius replied, holding his hand out expectantly. She hesitantly reached out across the table and placed her hand, palm up, in his. Instantly, she felt a tickling - or a tingling - where their skin connected and she felt her heart leap into her throat as his fingertips traced the lines on her palm. His skin felt so warm and so soft, it was all she could do to not curl her fingers around his. She absently wondered what kind of moisturiser he used?
"This line here is your heart line," he began, drawing her attention back to her palm, "but you see the way it originates from your middle finger? That means that you're restless in your relationships and, perhaps, you're still searching for the right person."
"Hm," Róisín replied simply. "What does it mean that that line is broken?"
"Don't be alarmed by that," Sirius said, looking up to meet her eyes. "A broken heart line means that you are capable of loving multiple people. You may have more than one love of your life with a broken line. It doesn't mean infidelity."
Róisín looked down at her palm and watched closely as Sirius continued to trace each line with his fingertips, murmuring all the while. It gave Róisín a chance to admire the many rings which adorned his fingers. She spotted a gold Muggle mood ring on one of his baby fingers accompanied by a small silver ring showing a family crest - probably the Black family, she reasoned - on his right ring finger. Oh his left index he wore a third ring with the Gryffindor house crest on it. As Sirius moved on to her second palm, Róisín spotted what looked like a tan line on his right baby finger where a ring had been removed. He must have been wearing that ring for years before taking it off for a tan line to form, and she absently wondered what happened to the missing ring?
The obnoxiously loud doorbell brought Róisín back out of her reverie and she hastily went to answer the door to Sirius' apologetic face.
"I know, I know, I'm sorry," he began, " I got caught up at the office."
Today he wore black with a dark red velvet jacket, his usual gold pocket watch clasped to his waistcoat. He took it now in his hands and added, "But only by ten minutes!"
Róisín chuckled and stepped over the threshold, closing the door behind her.
"So, where are you taking me?" she asked, looking up at him with a smile.