A/N Thanks to Eira for the beta. Thanks to Shinedown for the awesome lyrics I'm borrowing for the chapter titles. (check out the song Sin with a Grin by Shinedown) And of course, I own nothing but my OFC, the rest belongs to JK Rowling.
~*~
The kiss startled Alexia as much as it did him. As soon as she realized what she had done, she moved to step back, but Sirius wrapped his arm around her waist, holding her still. Her eyes shot open in surprise then blinked shut again. His lips were soft, and the sweet taste of Honeyduke’s fudge lingered on them. The kiss ended, and she drew a shaky breath as she opened her eyes.
“You kissed me,” Sirius said with a smirk. When she tried to pull away again, he held her firmly. “I’m not complaining. I knew you fancied me, but I thought you would resist a little longer.”
Pushing him away, Alexia turned around and walked back towards High Street. She didn’t know if she was angry at herself or embarrassed. She had thrown herself at him! Bloody hell! How desperate she must look.
“Alexia wait! I was only teasing you. I’m glad you…” Sirius began and jumped when she spun around on him.
“If you tell anyone I kissed you, I will make you regret you’re male, Sirius Black. I’m not one of those mindless bints who are completely under your spell.” Alexia seethed, wagging her finger in his face.
“Wait…calm down. I’m not going to tell anyone, anything. I thought you were through pretending to hate me. I don’t want to fight,” Sirius said and she started to walk away again. “Alexia, I didn’t mean to upset you again. I was just caught off guard by the kiss.” When she looked away blushing, he added, “I really enjoyed it and today. Well other than the incident with my family, but I enjoyed spending time with you.”
Sighing, Alexia said, “Let’s just go back to Hogwarts. I’m an idiot to think that you and I could be friends.”
Sirius grabbed her hand and pulled her back into his arms. “Let’s try this again and this time I won’t cock it up.” She gasped as his mouth covered hers; hot, more aggressive than before. His hand moved to her face and his thumb stroked her jaw. She was startled when she felt his tongue dip into her mouth.
Alexia had never been kissed before. She didn’t know what to do and couldn’t help the shaking in her hands as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Tentatively she moved her tongue against his. He moaned softly and she wondered if she had done something wrong, but he pulled her closer, his tongue moving faster.
After the kiss ended the two of them were breathing heavy as he rested his forehead on hers. Alexia was afraid to say anything to destroy the moment, and Sirius seemed to feel the same. She smiled nervously at the thought of him being speechless.
Hearing people walking by, Sirius cocked his head to the left. “Do you still want to go back to Hogwarts?”
Shaking her head, Alexia let him take her hand and walk to Madam Puddifoot’s. She had never been inside because mostly couples went in there. All of the Hogwarts couples began whispering behind their hands when she and Sirius walked in. Alexia cut her eyes at a few of them, daring them to say anything, and they looked away. James and Lily were snuggled up at a table in the back. Alexia was surprised when Sirius steered her to another table near the window.
After their tea was served, she busied herself making sure she had enough sugar in it while avoiding his eyes.
“Since you’ve met some of my family and have probably heard about some of the others, tell me about your family,” Sirius suggested.
“My dad is a Muggle, my mother a witch. I have one younger sister and an older half sister. The younger one, Nina, will start Hogwarts next year and my other sister, Victoria, is from my father’s first marriage so she can’t do magic and never went to Hogwarts.”
“Hmm. Does that bother her?” Sirius asked. “Is she jealous of yours and Nina’s abilities?”
“Her mother turned her against my mum long ago. Neither of them knows we’re witches or about magic. Her mother thinks that mum stole my father away anyway so that would probably convince her it was some type of magic spell.” Alexia shrugged. “Victoria only lived with us for a summer before she stopped seeing Dad.”
“I’m sorry. That must be difficult,” he said gently and reached for her hand.
Alexia looked up to see if he was teasing her again. His gaze was warm so she shrugged again. “I’m over it. It bothers my father but he also knows that he’s done all he can to resolve it. Other than that, my family is pretty normal, I guess. My grandparents are all gone, and my mum’s sister has one daughter who graduated from Hogwarts last year. You might know her; she was in Ravenclaw – Lissa McDougal?”
“Maybe but I don’t think so,” Sirius replied. “Are you two close?”
“Growing up we were, but at Hogwarts we drifted apart a bit. She fell into the wrong crowd, you know…the Death Eaters.” Alexia studied his face to see what his reaction would be to her cousin possibly being a Death Eater. It had caused quite a problem in her family since she and Nina had a Muggle father. Her aunt and uncle were very concerned about Lissa’s connection to the group.
Sirius took a long drink of his tea before he replied, “Yes, unfortunately, I know of the Death Eaters too well. Some of my family is associated with them as well. Nasty group, aren’t they?”
The two of them were quiet for a moment before Alexia suggested they study. Sirius grinned. “I make you nervous, don’t I?”
“Don’t start being a prat again,” Alexia replied. “Look not all of us have snogged everyone in school.”
Surprise flickered in his eyes before he asked, “Are you saying that was your first kiss?”
Blushing crimson, Alexia looked away. Why did he have to make her feel like such a freak? She wanted to leave but didn’t want another scene.
“If I had known that I would have made sure it was at least in a better location. Perhaps our next attempt will be someplace nicer than standing in the street.”
“I never agreed to another one. I just kissed you the first time to shut you up,” Alexia retorted but couldn’t help but grin. When he laughed, she added, “Sirius I don’t know what you’re planning, but I don’t think we should…I mean…the two of us aren’t exactly good together, obviously, so perhaps it’s best if we didn’t do anything…”
“Why do you assume we’re not good together? I don’t think you’ve really given me a chance, do you?” Sirius asked raising an eyebrow. “You hated me from the beginning, and now you’re at least talking to me so I think that’s a good sign.”
“I thought I was just supposed to be tutoring you, and now you’re acting like you want…I don’t know. What is it you want from me?” She shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
“Don’t be daft. What do you think I want?” Sirius began. When she got offended he rushed to add, “I don’t mean that! I just thought perhaps you and I could go on a date, just the two of us without my friends and hopefully without my family interrupting. And no studying.”
Alexia thought for a moment, chewing on her lip. Everything in her brain was telling her ‘bad idea’ but for some reason her mouth said, “Fine. Just one date and don’t think I’m going to let you kiss me or cop a feel.”
Sirius laughed and replied, “I will try to control myself. What about tomorrow night after dinner?”
“How will we be alone tomorrow night? Where do you plan to go?”
“Trust me. I know a great place. And don’t eat dessert.” Sirius winked at her. “But since Lily is waving us down now, I’m assuming we have to go back to Hogwarts.”
Gathering her things, Alexia stood up. Before she could step away from the table, he kissed her lightly then took her hand and led her to the door. She tried not to blush when Lily and James both smirked at her, but her face was on fire. Remus and Peter didn’t look surprised to see them holding hands which made her even more embarrassed. It’s like everyone but her knew they would end up snogging in the streets and holding hands before the end of the day.
~*~
By the next day, Alexia was ready to pull her hair out if one more person asked about her and Sirius. Heather was giving her the silent treatment which she would prefer to the 100 questions her other two roommates asked when she had returned from Hogsmeade. Apparently everyone knew that she and Sirius had both kissed and held hands at Madam Puddifoot’s. At least they hadn’t heard about her kissing him outside.
“Sirius is so handsome. You’re so lucky.” Elizabeth sighed, and Alexia had to bite her lip to keep from snapping at her.
She had lain awake the night before trying to decide how she felt about what had happened. For so long Sirius had just been this big prat, but now he wasn’t as bad as he had seemed. But what if he was only acting that way to convince her she was wrong about him? Then when she had fallen for him, he would show his true colors. She wished she had someone she could go to for advice, but she didn’t really have any close friends to confide in.
For so long, she had been happy to keep to herself. Seeing the close friendships around her, she wished she had let others get closer to her. Maybe then she would have someone to talk to about this. She was friendly with a few people but not enough to talk about her feelings.
“Are you excited about tonight?” Lily asked as she sat down beside her in the common room when Elizabeth had wandered off looking for Alice.
Alexia paused and looked around to make sure James and Sirius were not close by before answering. “I’m not sure. I mean…never mind.”
“Look, you can trust me. I wouldn’t tell them about what us girls talk about.” Lily smiled at her.
Perhaps it was desperation, but Alexia felt like she had to talk to Lily since there was no one else she could really talk to. “I’m nervous. I’ve never been on a date, and Sirius is probably expecting someone a lot more experienced than I am,” she whispered back. “I just don’t know if I can trust him to be honest with me and not be a wanker.”
“I felt the same way about James for six years,” Lily laughed. Alexia couldn’t help but start laughing with her. “But now I know James, Remus and Sirius are good blokes. I wouldn’t defend Sirius if he really was a prat. But I got to know him a bit more when he went to live with James and he’s…different than I thought he was. Just like James is. They come off as these arrogant asses but they really aren’t.”
“I don’t even know what Sirius is playing at though. I think he just fancies me because I didn’t like him so now he’s got to prove to me that I’m wrong.”
“You really don’t think he fancies you? He’s the one that asked Professor McGonagall if you could tutor him,” Lily said with a matter of fact tone.
“He did? But why? He doesn’t really need a tutor,” she said confused.
“No, but he was using it as an excuse to get to know you. He honestly fancies you and not for some devious reason.”
Alexia thought for a long time before asking, “Do you know what his plans are for tonight?”
“He just told me he was planning on getting you somewhere alone that no one could cock it up. ‘Course he could easily do that all by himself.” Lily laughed. “Just have fun and relax. I don’t think he bites; although you might want to watch out for Remus.”
Laughing, Alexia shook her head at the thought of Remus biting anyone. He was probably the most normal one of the bunch. The two of them talked for awhile before dinner then walked down to the dining hall together.
~*~
Sirius put his finger over his lips, signaling her to be quiet as they walked down the hall on the seventh floor.
“Stay here,” Sirius whispered, and she stood waiting and watching him walk in front of an ugly tapestry three times before whispering something to himself. She was surprised when a door appeared out of nowhere. Turning around and smiling, he took her hand again and said, “Come on.”
Walking in the room, Alexia was surprised to find a lovely lounge area with a fireplace and overstuffed furniture. It reminded her of the common room but much smaller. He led her to the sofa and sat down, pulling her to sit down beside him. On a table before them were two glasses of butterbeer and a plate full of sweet treats.
“I didn’t know what you liked so I asked for a bit of everything,” he explained handing her a drink.
“Where are we?”
“It’s called the Room of Requirement,” he smiled. “You simply think about what you need and it appears. But you have to be very specific or who knows what you’ll get.”
“Does everyone know about this? Are we going to get in trouble being here?” she asked nervously.
“No one that I know knows about it. I heard about it from my cousin Andromeda. I never even told James because I knew if I did, he’d be in here all the time with Lily and no one else would be able to use it.” Sirius chuckled. “No one will know we’re in here so we can’t get in trouble.”
Realizing they were completely alone and there was no way they would be interrupted, Alexia grew very nervous. She sipped her butterbeer and watched how casual he seemed to be. Sirius always seemed to be laid back other than yesterday with his family. She wondered how he remained so carefree all the time.
They talked for a long time about everything from their childhoods to Quidditch teams. She noticed he kept moving closer to her and despite the fact it made her very nervous, she didn’t move away. When he took her glass from her, Alexia tensed up knowing he was going to kiss her. She was surprised when he asked if she was ready to go back to the common room.
“I…umm…yeah,” she replied, confused. What had she done wrong?
When she moved to stand up, he stopped her, pulling her close to him. He stared into her eyes for a moment before saying. “I want to kiss you. But I also want to show you that I’m not just looking for a girl to shag. I know you’re worried about that.”
“Alright.” Alexia didn’t know what else to say. When he didn’t move, she whispered, “But what if I want you to kiss me again?”
“Brilliant! I was hoping you’d say that.” Sirius grinned before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her to him in a deep kiss that made yesterday’s kiss seem innocent.
His kisses made her dizzy and her stomach had butterflies again. He lay back so she was partially on top of him, her hair hanging down on his face. He laughed and said, “Wait, this isn’t working.”
Alexia laughed as he moved so they were lying side by side on the couch. Reaching up, he brushed her hair back. “You’re so beautiful.”
Blushing furiously, she looked away before he put his finger under her chin. “Don’t tell me you don’t hear that all the time.”
She shook her head. “Only from my parents and well, they’re supposed to think that.”
“I bet you never notice all the blokes who watch you when you walk by. I’m surprised that you even noticed me,” Sirius replied with a light kiss.
“I had no choice. You forced me to tutor you!” Alexia laughed.
“I was desperate. Lexi…can I call you Lexi?”
“If you want.”
“Lexi, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I fancy you,” Sirius said. “And I don’t want you to…you know…with other boys.”
“Are you asking me to be your girlfriend?” Alexia whispered in surprise.
“Well…yeah…I am.” Sirius kissed her again. “So will you? You know? Be my girlfriend?”
“On one condition.”
“Anything.”
“You stop asking me to tutor you in a class you obviously don’t need a tutor in. And you don’t act daft to get my attention.”
“That’s two conditions,” Sirius said and smiled when she smacked him lightly on the chest. “But yes, I will do both.”
Gathering her in his arms again, Sirius kissed her until she was breathless. Alexia could not help but wonder if she was dreaming.
Story Summary: Before Lord Voldomort ruined his life, Sirius Black enjoyed his best years at Hogwarts. In his final year, a fellow student manages to turn things up side down for him but he has no complaints. | |||
Chapter Three
Under my Skin, Where You've Always Been
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