Step Seven: Kiss him. Any doubt he has will be erased.

If Sirius thought Laine would hold back on the flirting because everybody was at Grimmauld Place for Christmas, he was sorely mistaken.
On the contrary, she seemed to think that the Christmas holiday was a romantic, wonderful time.

"Don't you think so, Sirius?" she asked him one day, twirling a bit of his hair around her finger and leaning closer.

"Not particularly."

Laine's favorite part of Christmas seemed to be the mistletoe.

Sirius woke up one morning before Christmas, walked downstairs, and found that Grimmauld Place had been strung with mistletoe. He then dashed around the place, yanking down the sprigs and shoving them into the rubbish bin. He was determined not be trapped under that stuff by Laine. But in his haste, he had forgotten to actually dispose of the mistletoe properly.

Laine took to trailing around Grimmauld Place, clutching a bit of mistletoe in her hand. She would wait until he had sat down on the sofa, or at the table, then she would run up to him, grabbing his arm and holding the mistletoe above them with her other arm.

"Hey Sirius… you know what mistletoe means…" she would say, a teasing smile on her face.

And when she leaned her face toward his, still smiling, it would take all of Sirius' self-control not to give in and kiss her.

~XX~

Sirius was absolutely infuriating, and impossibly stubborn.

Laine knew he liked her, or at least she was 99 percent sure. She had waited months, and now she felt it was finally time to go forth with Step Seven of her plan. She could have waited a bit longer, but the truth was, she really, truly wanted Sirius to kiss her. Now. Right this second. But, well, if he wouldn't kiss her, then she would have to kiss him.

She found him upstairs in one of the spare, unused rooms. His gaze went straight to her eyes, meeting them for what seemed like forever, but really was only a moment.

"Hey, Sirius." Laine said, pleased that her voice was steady and casual and did not betray her nervousness in the slightest. "I was looking for you."

"Why?" He looked down at her hands. "You don't have any mistletoe, do you?" he asked suspiciously.

"No, you burned the last of it."

"Oh." he said. "Good."

Sirius looked slightly disappointed at hearing this, and that gave Laine the confidence to continue with Step Seven.

She stepped toward Sirius, coming to a stop only inches away from him.

"Sirius, why don't we kiss?" she asked, smiling at him.

Sirius' eyes widened, and he swallowed before answering. "What? You're just a kid. Don't be-"

"I'm not a kid."

"You're only… what, 18,19? I'm in my thirties, Laine. That's at least fifteen years between us. It's just not right, okay?"

"Well, I am an adult, you know. Nineteen years old. So it's alright if you kiss me." She began slowly moving toward him.

"Kiss you? No, I can't kiss you, don't be-"

"Well then I'll kiss you, and you can just stand there until I'm done." He stepped away from her, but his back hit a wall and he was trapped.

Laine continued her advance, smiling calmly at Sirius.

"Sirius."

"What?"

She grabbed his hand. "Does this feel wrong?"

He looked down at her hand, her long elegant fingers wrapped around his scarred and thin fingers.

He didn't answer.

Laine stepped closer and grabbed his other hand. "Exactly. It feels right. Silly Sirius. You're not that old, you know. Now, how does it feel to hold my hand?"

She waited, eyeing him expectantly. Finally he nodded.

"It feels right."

Sirius let go of her hands and wrapped them instead around her waist,

"Right." he said again.

His grey eyes roamed over her face, and he seemed to be thinking hard a bout something. Then he leaned his face down and their lips met, softly at first. He stopped and seemed about to pull away. But then his eyes met hers, and he was kissing her again, all signs of hesitation gone. He pulled her closer, pressing her against him, and Laine was distantly aware of her hands curling around his neck, her hands tangling in his shaggy hair. His breath was hot, and smelled slightly of the plate of cinnamon cookies he had eaten earlier. He hadn't shaved for a couple days, and his stubble was scraping at Laine's face.

He spun her around so that she was the one with her back to wall, then pressed her up against the rough stones, still kissing her. The stones would probably give her scrapes, but Laine didn't care. He was kissing her, finally, finally, and his body was warm against hers, and nothing else mattered but that. Suddenly Sirius' lips stopped moving against hers. Laine heard the door open. Their eyes met, then Laine leaned her head to the side, to look past Sirius. Ron and Hermione were staring at them.

"Hello, Ron, Hermione." Sirius said, looking over his shoulder. He still had Laine pressed against the wall, without seeming to realize it.

Ron's shocked face slowly turned into a wide grin. He nudged Hermione. That seemed to shock Hermione into awareness. She grabbed Ron's arm and started to pull him away from the door.

"Come on, Ron, we should-"

Then Harry appeared in the doorway.

"Why are you two standing outside…. Oh. Oh. Er…"

"Sirius" whispered Laine. "Let go of me."

He looked down at her, then his eyes widened. "Oh!" he said. His grip on her loosened, and Laine stepped away, straightening her shirt and smoothing her hair.

"Well, what are you all staring at? Surely you've seen people kissing before." she said, hoping she wasn't blushing.

"But you. And Sirius. Were…" Harry trailed off.

"Embracing passionately?" suggested Hermione.

"Bloody Hell, Hermione, don't say it like that! That makes it sound worse." said Ron.

"Well I think it's kind of sweet, actually."

Laine smiled at Hermione. "Why thank you Hermione." She turned back to Sirius and tried to read his face, to see what he was feeling, whether or not he regretted kissing her. He was plenty embarrassed, but Laine thought that she could see a hint of satisfaction there.

She smiled, and walked out of the room, leaving Sirius to the interrogation of Ron, Harry and Hermione.

"Laine!" she heard Hermione call.

She stopped and waited for Hermione to catch up. She grinned at Laine. "I saw it coming."

"Saw what coming?"

"You and Sirius."

Laine raised an eyebrow as they continued walking down the hall. "Oh really."

"Yes. A blind person could have seen it."

"Harry and Ron seemed awfully surprised. They didn't see it coming."

"Yes, but they're boys. I mean that any woman could have seen how much Sirius cared about you, and you for him."

Laine smiled at Hermione. "Really."

"You don't believe me?"

"No, no, I believe you…"

"Liar."

"Yeah, you caught me."

They arrived in the kitchen, where Molly was rolling dough. She smiled at the girls. "How are you two?"

"Fine, Molly. Thanks."

"I'm great." Laine smiled. She hopped up onto the counter.

"As I was saying, Laine, it was fairly obvious. You pretended you were just teasing Sirius, but I saw the way you both acted around each other. So happy."

"What was obvious?" Molly said.

"No it wasn't obvious, and our cheer levels remained the same." Laine insisted.

"Sirius and Laine." said Hermione.

"What about them?" asked Molly.

"Nothing, Molly." Laine said.

"We interrupted them snogging." Hermione said.

"What?"

"Why so surprised? Hermione says it was obvious to every woman around here."

Laine waited for Molly to reply. The kitchen was silent except for a burst of laughter from upstairs.

Molly's hands had stopped rolling out dough. Then she turned around toward the stairs.

"Sirius Black!" she screamed.

Hermione and Laine clapped their hands over their ears. "Wait, Molly. It wasn't-" Laine began, but Molly wasn't listening. She marched up the stairs, wiping her flour covered hands on her apron.

"Sirius Black!" she screamed again.

Silence from upstairs, then an audible, "Bloody hell. Someone's in trouble."

~XX~

Sirius stared wide-eyed at Harry and Ron as Molly's scream echoed up the stairwell.

"Bloody hell. Someone's in trouble." Ron said.

"You're dead, Sirius." said Harry.

"I agree." Sirius stood slowly as they listened to Molly's feet pounding up the steps. There were two sets of lighter steps, then the faint voices of Laine and Hermione.

"So mate, was it worth it?"

Sirius looked at Ron.

"Yes." He smiled, and his face was young again, free of the harsh planes and shadows from his long years in Azkaban, and his confinement to Grimmauld Place. "It was worth every second."

~XX~

Sirius had believed he was a fairly brave man, but that was before he had angered a woman by kissing the girl she loved like a daughter. Surely Molly wouldn't really hurt him…

Sirius transformed into his Animagus form and dove under the bed as the door flew open. He lay on his paws, listening as Molly demanded to know where that 'no-good scoundrel Sirius Black' was.

"No clue, Mrs. Weasley." said Harry.

"Yeah. I haven't seen him since a couple hours ago."

"Ronald Weasley, do not lie to me. Where did he go?"

"Molly, please. He didn't do anything wrong." said Laine. "Why don't we go finish baking those biscuits?

"Where is he, Ron?" Molly asked again, her voice low and threatening.

Silence, then footsteps creaking across the floor. They got closer and closer to where Sirius was hiding under the bed.

Sirius put on his best cute puppy dog face as the blanket on the bed was ripped off. Molly's hand reached below the bed. Sirius turned around and tried to inch his way to the other side, but her hand closed around his tail and she yanked him out from under the bed. He dug in his claws, but Molly was stronger than she looked. Sirius yelped as he was dragged to the middle of the floor.

"Turn back into a man, Sirius. Now. We have something to discuss." Her voice was flat and angry, her arms crossed. "You have until the count of three. One… two…"

This is ridiculous, Sirius thought. I'm a grown man. But still, he decided it would be best if he did what Molly said. He shifted back into a man again, and sat up, rubbing the small of his back.

"Ow. I'm going to be sore for days, you know." he said.

"Sirius Black, you are in so much trouble. When Arthur gets home…"

"Actually, Mum, I don't think he'll care."

"Quiet, Ronald. All of you, out. Except you." she said, glaring at Sirius.

Ron, Hermione, and Harry filed out, with sympathetic glances back at Sirius. Laine just stood stubbornly.

"No, Molly. I won't let-"

"Please, dear. I need to talk to Sirius alone." said Molly.

"Go, Laine. She probably won't kill me." said Sirius.

Laine stood there for a moment longer, then spun and walked out, closing the door behind her.

Molly went and sat on the bed. She clasped her hands on her lap and shook her head.

"Sirius, Sirius, Sirius. What were you thinking? She's half your age."

"Technically she's an adult." Molly raised an eyebrow as he continued. "Besides, she's the one who approached me. You should be yelling at her for tainting my innocence."

"Tainting your- Dear heavens, Sirius. I-"

"Okay, fine. She is young, I know. But Molly, I don't care anymore. Laine is… she's worth having you want to murder me."

"What about her parents, hmm? Did you consider how they might react?"

"She's-"

"An adult, yes. They wouldn't let her join the Order, though she is of age. What makes you think they'll accept… you two together?"

"I don't know, Molly." Sirius said, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know, but I think I lo…er… I really, really like Laine. She's amazing. Funny, and kind, and beautiful… god, she's beautiful."

"What have you gotten yourself into, Sirius?" Molly asked, her voice softening as she watched Sirius.

"Hell. I've gotten myself into hell... but I don't care if her parents will want to kill me. I don't care."

"We'll see if you think that tonight. Her parents will be coming back from that job with Tonks." Molly said, standing up from the bed. "Sirius, Sirius, Sirius…" she said with a sigh, then left the room.

~XX~

Step Eight: Don't lose him now that he's yours.

Laine had succeeded with every other step of her grand master plan.

And she would succeed with step eight, too, regardless of what her parents thought.

No doubt about it.

~End~

~XX~

So that's all there is, there isn't any more…

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~XX~