Chapter 21
Aurelia stumbled down the stairs from her dorm to the commonroom, pulling her cloak on. She glanced around the commonroom, and upon seeing that Sirius was not there, she paused. Aurelia looked out the window into the dark. The shower would be visible soon. She would just have to leave Sirius a note for when he got back from wherever he had gone. Striding over to the table by the fire, Aurelia picked up the letter from Lily she had received a day or so earlier and turned it over. She grabbed her quill and wrote a small note to Sirius on the back of the parchment.
Sirius,
I have gone up to the Astronomy tower for the shower; it's going to be awesome.
So meet me up there when you get back, yeah?
--Aur.
Aurelia turned and headed across the commonroom and out the portrait hole and up towards the Astronomy tower. When she reached the tower she was pleased to see an utterly clear sky where the stars were completely visible, and sure enough within a few moments she could see the golden glowing streaks of the shower across the sky. Aurelia grinned and headed for a telescope, however within a few seconds she had backed away from the telescope and just stood staring at the sky as golden sparks were seen everywhere. With a jolt Aurelia realised that some of the meteors were making it through the earth's atmosphere and that some of them might even be making it to the ground. Looking up with sudden unease she backed slowly towards the doorway and safety from any falling rocks, as unlikely as it would be that any would fall near her. She stared up at the sky with a giant grin on her face for several long minutes until she heard a clatter upon the stones in front of her and looked down to see a small rock slightly smaller than the size of a golf ball resting near the edge wall of the tower. "Oh, you are kidding." Aurelia breathed, moving forward and picking it up with the end of her scarf incase it was hot. She held it lightly as she quickly backed away from the open sky and back toward the shelter of the doorway looking up as a particularly bright spark streaked across the sky.
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Sirius walked into the commonroom to see it empty. He carried his wet towel and dirty clothes up the stairs to his dorm, hoping that Aurelia would appear by the time he got back down. She did not. He walked down the stairs looking around the empty commonroom for any clue as to where she could be. Spotting a piece of parchment over on their table, he smiled and walked quickly over to pick it up. Sirius scanned the letter Aurelia had written him, telling him that she was heading up to the tower, and then out of curiosity he turned it over. It was a letter to Aurelia from Lily. Sirius didn't mean to read it, but certain words just jumped out at him. What he saw there made his heart backflip into his throat. He stared at the words that caught his eye. 'If you have real feelings for Sirius…' Was it possible that what he had been hoping for had actually happened? Sirius continued to stare at the words. Aurelia had obviously written to Lily confessing that she had something for him, and had asked for advice. "She really has feelings for me." He breathed softly, a smile breaking out across his face. Sirius put the parchment back down upon the table as he resolved to go straight up to the tower and sort this out with Aurelia once and for all. With that, he turned and hurried for the portrait hole.
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Looking down at the rock in her hand, Aurelia let out a deep breath, unable to believe that what was left of a meteor had landed up on the tower with her. It was incredible. Unbelievable. Something that hardly ever happened to anybody. Tracing a finger delicately over it, she realised that it wasn't hot and so slipped it into the deep pocket of her cloak. She had just looked back out to the sky again when she felt an arm snake around her waist and pull her gently back against a warm body. The arm didn't release her then, but another wound around her stomach so they were both holding her. It was then a voice whispered in her ear "I knew you'd be up here."
Aurelia stiffened when she realised that it wasn't Sirius. Turning her head, she saw that it was Jonathan Frost holding her. "What are you doing?" she demanded, trying to pull out of his grip.
"Relax, darling." He told her gently in her ear, his arms tightening around her as she tried to get away from him.
"Maybe I could once you get your hands off me!" she retorted sharply, still trying to twist out of his hold.
"You'll learn to love it." Frost breathed, forcefully turning her in his arms so she was facing him, with her arms trapped against her own body.
"I don't think so!" Aurelia snarled as she was forced to look up at his face, only inches from hers.
"I've forgiven you your ignorance." He told her in a low voice, and with a smile. "You just don't know what you are missing, and as soon as I show you, you will realise what it is that you really want." Frost looked down at her with another smile, and then began to bend his head toward her as if he were about to kiss her until Aurelia breathed her reply.
"You're psychotic."
Frost just continued to smile at her then he reached into her pocket and pulled out her wand, throwing it over against the wall, far out of her reach. "My patience is not endless, Aurelia." He said, his voice slightly losing the easy edge it had previously held. Aurelia glared up at him, trying again to twist free of him. Eventually she brought her knee up into his groin, causing him to cry out and release her in shock. Aurelia immediately spun away from him. She had moved to the other side of the tower and had put the telescopes between them when he finally looked back up at her. He turned and closed the door that lead to the stairs back down the tower and then pointed his wand at it and locked it, before stowing his wand back in his robes. Aurelia watched him, eyes wide.
"What are you doing?" she demanded uneasily. Frost looked at her.
"Just ensuring some privacy." He replied, striding towards her. Aurelia backed away and moved around so that the telescopes remained between them.
"What is your deal?" she cried. "Why don't you get it? I've told you I want nothing to do with you!"
"You're an attractive girl, Aurelia." He told her in a silky voice, as he slowly moved around the telescopes. "I am just giving you an opportunity to put yourself right."
"I don't think so." She snapped, but Frost continued.
"What is it that makes you think Black would be a better choice than a real wizard like me? He's a disgrace. You could do so much better with someone like me. My family is just as old as his, but we don't breed any like him. Sooner or later you'll see that."
"Don't fool yourself." Aurelia retorted. "There is no way anybody halfway decent would choose to have anything to do with you. You are incapable of any kind of love!"
"Is that what he has claimed to offer you?" Frost laughed. "Love? – Love is just a pretty way of saying 'I want to sleep with you'."
"In your mind."
"One way or another I will prove to you what you would otherwise be missing out on." He told her "That bloodtraitor could never compare to what I can do for you. Just you wait and see."
Aurelia had heard enough. She turned and ran for the door, she had just reached it when she remembered that he had locked it with magic, and tugged on it anyway in her effort to get away. Frost grabbed her from behind and pressed her hard against the wooden door with his own body as he tried to get a better grip on her. Aurelia let out a scream of frustration and pain as he grabbed a handful of her long hair and yanked her back from the door. He once again snaked an arm around her waist, holding her firmly against himself while he brought his other hand up to brush her hair away from her face before stroking his fingers lightly down her cheek and then gently kissing it. Aurelia turned her face as far away from his as she could, but that only made him laugh.
"Go fuck yourself!" She growled at him.
"You got the idea half right." He replied, "Only, it's not a one player game I had in mind."
Aurelia felt the panic begin to rise in her, when the wooden door suddenly flew open with a loud crash and Sirius appeared in the doorway. Upon seeing Aurelia and Frost, he stopped, shocked. Aurelia let out a choking sound as Frost's free arm suddenly wrapped around her throat tight enough to hamper her breathing.
"Do you mind?" He said arrogantly to Sirius. "This is a private party."
"If you've hurt her, I'll kill you." Sirius growled.
"Right." Frost remarked sarcastically "Because you love her!" Sirius just stared silently at Frost as he slowly moved forward toward them. "Uh-uh." Frost said softly, holding Aurelia in front of him as Sirius pulled out his wand.
"Has he hurt you, Sweetie?" Sirius asked, his eyes focusing upon Aurelia.
"No." Aurelia replied softly, shaking her head. Sirius nodded encouragingly and smiled at Aurelia. She smiled back, still trying to twist out of Frost's grip.
"So, then, what has been going on up here?" Sirius asked mildly. When Frost didn't reply, Aurelia spoke up.
"He's not really much for actions." She said "More about words." She then added loudly "He's just been spouting some creepy-assed shit."
"Oh, you don't have to pretend in front of him." Frost said, kissing Aurelia's cheek again. Aurelia tried to pull away from him, but he held on tightly while smirking at Sirius.
"What's your point?" Sirius asked, eyeing Frost with a slight frown. Frost pulled Aurelia tighter against himself which caused Sirius to take a protesting step forward before Frost decided to answer the question.
"Well," Frost said, giving Aurelia a light squeeze "We have here a very attractive girl from an old pureblood family. So, I am simply trying to save her."
"From what?"
"You." Frost replied with a smirk "It would be a terrible shame for such a fine thing to be wasted on a bloodtraitor like you." Sirius raised an eyebrow.
"You can't just decide for her. She does have a mind of her own." He said.
"She just doesn't realise what she has been missing out on." Frost said confidently "And once I show her, she'll never want to go elsewhere…" here he lowered the arm from around Aurelia's throat, and allowed his hand to wander down her body.
"Get your hand off me you creepy-assed son of a bitch!" Aurelia growled. Frost just chuckled and continued to let his hand wander.
"Just getting you in the mood." He told her softly. Aurelia cringed and looked pleadingly at Sirius who was clenching and unclenching his hands. "You know," Frost said to Sirius "I have a sneaking suspicion that once you get Aurelia here going, she'd be a real wildcat!"
A snarl crept onto Sirius' face as he watched Frost's hand continue to wander over Aurelia, then when he heard Aurelia let out an involuntary whimper he stepped forward. His eyes turned serious as he pointed his wand at Frost's head and growled "Let her go."
Frost stared at Sirius, a snarl creeping onto his own face before he suddenly threw Aurelia away from him and to the rough stone floor. Aurelia landed rather unceremoniously upon the ground and pushed the hair from her face as she realised that she'd lost the skin off of her right knee. Wincing, she glanced at it as she got to her feet and then became aware of the fact that Sirius and Frost were about to hex the shit out of each other. An instant later they did. Frost shot a jet of blue light at Sirius who blocked it with a shield before retaliating with a spell of his own which Frost deflected. Aurelia shrieked and hit the deck when the deflected spell came flying at her. "You okay, Sweetie?" Sirius asked, his eyes and wand still focussed upon Frost.
"I'm fine." Aurelia replied, walking over to where Frost had thrown her wand earlier, however, before she reached it Frost had pointed his wand at her.
"Leave it alone." He told her. Aurelia turned to look at him. He continued to point his wand at her. "You have tried my patience for the last time." He told her, his eyes looking her up and down. "I tried to give you the opportunity to improve yourself. I was more than willing to help you with that, but if you are determined to degrade yourself with this filth, then I guess you are filth just like him!" Aurelia glanced around her, looking for something she could use as she knew what was coming now, and sure enough, Frost made a slashing motion with his wand and yelled "SEC-"
Aurelia stared as Frost was gagged and ropes wound themselves around his body causing him to overbalance and fall to the ground. "Don't you ever point your wand at her again." Sirius snarled at Frost, kicking his wand away from him. Aurelia bent and picked Frost's wand up and then threw it over the edge of the tower and into the dark. Sirius smiled at her and then walked over to her. "You really okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Aurelia replied, looking at him. Sirius opened his arms and Aurelia immediately stepped into them, resting her cheek against his chest as he held her tightly. "Thank you so much." She breathed, squeezing her eyes closed.
"Hey," Sirius said gently, stroking his hand down her hair. "You don't have to thank me for anything."
They both looked down at the ground where Frost was shouting something at them through the gag in his mouth. "Come on." Sirius said, bending down and picking up Aurelia's wand and then taking her hand and leading her towards the door and down the stairs of the tower. Sirius watched Aurelia out of the corner of his eye as he walked beside her down the stairs and up several hallways. She was walking silently with her head down and twisting her hands together in front of her. "Are you okay?" Sirius asked her gently, reaching a hand out and touching her lightly on the shoulder.
"I want you to have something." Aurelia replied as she suddenly stopped walking. Sirius also stopped walking and turned to face her. Aurelia was still looking down.
"What are you talking about?" he asked lightly. Aurelia looked up, smiling, as she pulled something from the pocket of her cloak.
"It fell when I was on the tower." She said softly.
"What is it?" Sirius asked as he reached a hand out to take what she was holding out to give him. He stared at the rock in his hands. "Oh, wow." He breathed. Aurelia smiled, pleased. "This really fell while you were up there?"
"Yes." Aurelia replied, still smiling.
"That's unbelievable." Sirius said, still staring down at the rock in his hands, turning it over and over. "That's amazing."
"It is, isn't it." Aurelia replied.
"I can't take this." Sirius told her, holding it back out to her. Aurelia's face fell.
"Why not?" she asked.
"Because…" Sirius answered, "This is rare, Aur. A Once in a lifetime thing. You can't just give it to me, It'll never happen to you again."
"That's why I want you to have it." Aurelia told him softly, her eyes looking up to meet his. "It's special." She told him "And with what you have done for me…"
"I told you Aur," Sirius began "you don't have to thank me for dealing with Frost."
"It's more than just what happened with Frost." Aurelia replied, feeling the heat begin to rise in her cheeks. "You've done so much for me this year. It seems every time I need help lately, It's you who is there for me. You haven't complained or asked for anything in return, and I… I – oh, just take it, will you!" Sirius just looked at her for a moment and then nodded, slipping the rock into his pocket.
Aurelia was looking down again. Sirius tilted his head as he looked at her and then reached a hand forward, placing his fingers beneath her chin and tilting her face up, making her look at him. "Thank you." He breathed softly. Aurelia just nodded, staring at him wordlessly. Sirius hesitated for only a moment before he bent towards Aurelia, gently kissing her. An instant later, Aurelia raised her right hand to clutch tightly at Sirius' arm. Once Sirius had straightened up, he smiled when he realised that Aurelia's hand still held his arm, and that she hadn't tried to pull away from him. "I hope that wasn't inappropriate, Sweetie." He told her with a grin.
"Not at all." She replied with a smile of her own at him. Sirius raised a hand to her cheek as he stepped closer to her, smiling when she took a step backwards, drawing him with her. Sirius kept stepping towards her until he had her backed up against the stone wall, where she gazed up at him, waiting for whatever he would do next.
Sirius saw the utterly trusting look upon Aurelia's face and gently stroked his fingers down her cheek, aroused by the fact that she had completely surrendered to him. He felt her hand tighten around a handful of his sleeve and it made him want to be even closer to her than he was. Sirius rested his hand against her cheek again as he closed the gap between them, pressing himself gently against her, and pressing her gently into the stonework. Sirius' other hand held him braced against the wall as he leaned over Aurelia, his face just inches from hers as he looked at her, her face was still turned upwards towards him, her eyes still locked on his. Sirius let his hand fall from her cheek to her shoulder and then let it run lightly down her arm as he once again began to bend towards her to kiss her.
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Aurelia felt tingles run down her spine as Sirius ran his hand lightly down her arm. Her breath caught in her throat as he slowly drew closer to her and she realised that there was nothing she wanted more in the entire world than for Sirius Black to kiss her again. However; suddenly he was pulled away from her and Aurelia had only a second to recognise her cousin before Colin had punched Sirius in the face, sending him to the floor. "I told you to stay away from my cousin!" Colin snarled, standing over Sirius.
"Colin! No!" Aurelia cried, jumping forward and seizing her cousin's arm and pulling him away from Sirius. "It's fine!" she told him "He wasn't doing anything wrong!" Colin frowned as he looked at Aurelia.
"I thought he was harassing you again…" Colin said , glancing at Sirius on the floor and then looking back to his cousin who was shaking her head.
"No." she said. "He wasn't. I… I was okay with it."
"Oh…" Colin breathed. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay." Aurelia told him "Just…" she waved her hand down the hall as she knelt beside Sirius. Colin nodded and headed back down the hall.
Aurelia looked down at Sirius. "Oh… I'm sorry." She told him gently. Aurelia reached out, stroking his hair. "Can you tell me where you are?" she asked. Sirius looked around.
"On the floor." He replied from where he still lay. Aurelia smiled and nodded.
"Yeah." She said softly. Sirius sat up, rubbing his head.
"Your cousin packs a hell of a punch." He said tonelessly.
"Oh… I'm sorry." Aurelia bit her lip.
"Again, apologizing for something that wasn't your fault." He told her with a smile. Aurelia smiled back.
"Family responsibility?" she asked. Sirius shook his head.
"No." he told her.
"Well," Aurelia asked, reaching a hand out to rest on his shoulder "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Sirius replied gently, pulling her down from her knees, closer to him. Sirius took Aurelia's hand, as he let out a deep breath. "I just want you to know…" he paused to focus his gaze on hers. "I love you, Aur." Aurelia looked down.
"Sirius…" she breathed.
"I didn't say it to hear it back." He told her. Aurelia looked back up at him and smiled, leaning forward and kissing him. Sirius was almost caught off balanced, but managed to catch himself with a hand thrown out behind himself, while he drew Aurelia closer with his other hand. He felt Aurelia smile into the kiss when he slid his hand up from her arm, across her shoulder and up into her hair. Sirius leaned back for a second and looked at her. "You wanna get off this cold floor?" he asked.
"Yeah…" Aurelia smiled at him. Sirius got to his feet and pulled Aurelia up after him, then lightly kissed her again.
"Commonroom?" he asked, turning to walk back to Gryffindor tower.
"Sirius…" Aurelia said, causing him to swing back around to look at her. "I love you too." She told him softly. Sirius stared silently at her for a moment before smiling brilliantly at her then walking forward and wrapping her in his arms in the warmest hug she had ever had.
"Come on." He said eventually, letting her go and taking her hand to lead her down the hall towards the portrait of the fat lady.
Aurelia felt the rush of warmth in the air as soon as she and Sirius stepped into the commonroom through the portrait hole. She rubbed her hands together to dispel the last bit of cold that had settled in her out in the hallways. Sirius looked down at her with a smile before leading her over to the fire. He threw himself into the large comfortable armchair in front of the fire and then smiled winningly at Aurelia. She smiled back and he motioned for her to come closer. When she did he reached out, wrapped his fingers around her wrist, and pulled her down onto the arm rest of his chair with his arms around her waist. She raised a hand and scruffed Sirius' hair playfully, grinning at him. Aurelia laughed softly as Sirius reached up, taking hold of the ends of her hair and gently tugging on it; making her bend so he could kiss her. She shook her head when he pouted as she had to sit up to prevent herself falling off the chair. Sirius shuffled over so she could squeeze in beside him, which she did. She smiled contentedly, resting her head on Sirius' shoulder, when he wrapped an arm around her.
"Are you warmer yet?" Sirius asked softly. Aurelia nodded, still resting her head on his shoulder. Sirius' hand began toying with the ends of Aurelia's hair with his other hand running up and down her arm lightly, before she felt him lightly kiss her hair on the top of her head. Aurelia smiled and tilted her head back, looking up at him and allowing him to kiss her properly. Aurelia allowed the kiss to continue as it was for a few moments, however when she felt Sirius wanting to deepen it, she lifted herself and turned, settling herself on his lap with a knee either side of him, not breaking the kiss as she did so. Sirius raised his head and looked at her in surprise; Aurelia just looked back at him silently. Sirius smiled, "That's a bold move." He breathed, his smile widening. Aurelia smiled back at him and nodded, before he raised a hand to cup her cheek, drawing her down towards him.
"This is an interesting Christmas." She whispered, lightly kissing him. Sirius nodded.
"I kinda like it." He replied, his hands sliding down her, coming to rest on her hips.
"Good." Aurelia answered gently, then let out a light exclamation when Sirius pulled her hard against himself, his hands sliding up her back. Although, a moment later she settled into him comfortably, and as he tenderly kissed her Aurelia found herself unable to believe what had happened and what was happening, and she wondered what the others would think when they got back from holidays. However; as Sirius deepened the kiss, Aurelia found that all thought of the others, or anything else for that matter, was melted from her mind until all that remained was Sirius.
Disclaimer;
Aurelia and Frost are mine.
J.K. Rowling owns Sirius.
…though, I want him bad.