Leading a Double Life

Bryn studied her reflection in the mirror, wishing she had a better body. //Why would I want that? It\'s not as if I want to impress Sirius, er... Mr. Black. It\'s just dinner with a man who wouldn\'t have any interest in me, anyway. Not that I care, of course!//

She scowled at herself as she brushed her hair. He wasn\'t her type. He\'s too tall, his hair was too long, and she dated guys her own age.

But, why did she keep thinking about when he said she was beautiful? It wasn\'t as if he meant it. It was just a flippant remark to get her to forgive him... wasn\'t it?

Shrugging away her thoughts, Bryn took a white sweater from her closet. Putting it on, she looked at herself again and decided she looked rather frumpy. No, this wouldn\'t do at all. Pulling a green cardigan with little purple flowers around the collar on, she studied herself again. Not as frumpy, but she didn\'t have any time to choose anything else because she had to meet Siri- er, Mr. Black in ten minutes.

Sighing, she grabbed her purse and put the dog outside before apparating.

Sirius crouched behind the fence as he watched her leave. He was going to be a few minutes late, but he had to do this. Standing up, he hopped the little wooden fence around her yard and trotted over to his animagus self.

\"Listen, I don\'t have much time, I\'m supposed to meet her in a few minutes. Go over to headquarters and get Hermione\'s time-turner. She\'ll lend it to you, but you have to beg. Go along with what you\'ve seen after that, all right?\"

The dog regarded him for a moment before changing forms. \"Do you have any idea how weird this is? I mean, you\'re me.\"

Sirius smiled and answered hurriedly. \"Yeah, yeah. I know. Listen, she\'s meeting you... er, me for dinner tonight, isn\'t she? And she looks gorgeous. Give it a chance, it might work out.\" Glancing at his watch, he swore. \"I have to go, now. Just do it, okay?\" He apparated, not waiting for an answer.

Bryn was already sitting at a table, sipping a glass of wine when he showed up. \"Mr. Black, I was beginning to wonder about you.\" she said.

Sirius sat down across from her. \"I\'m sorry, the prophet wanted yet another interview and I had a hard time getting away. I hope you haven\'t been waiting long?\"

Bryn smiled humorlessly and shook her head. \"No, I haven\'t waited long at all. An interview, you say? I thought all of the publicity died down after that article where you described Azkaban in detail? The Ministry is letting them give you a spotlight again?\"

Sirius reddened slightly and ducked his head behind his menu. \"Erm, well... they are hoping to publish it. Anyway, this time it was The Quibbler instead of The Prophet, they aren\'t as afraid of the Ministry as most publications. There was a fantastic article in last month\'s issue about Greyback. Of course, they tried to say that he wasn\'t a werewolf, but really a gender confused snorkrat, but that hardly matters. That Lovegood isn\'t afraid of anything, especially not government affairs.\"

Bryn choked on her wine at the mention of the snorkrat and started gasping in-between bouts of laughter. \"A WHAT? Wow, that\'s got to be one for the record. Incidentally, was is a snorkrat?\"

Grinning, Sirius shook his head. \"I don\'t bloody know. But whatever it is, it must look an awful lot like a hairy guy who badly needs a good pair of shears. Really, though, I truly tried to get here sooner.\"

The waiter came and Sirius ordered another glass of wine for Bryn and a firewhiskey for himself before glancing down at his menu. \"I\'m sorry, I forgot to figure out what I wanted.\" Bryn smirked and ordered roast chicken, smiling to herself when Sirius did the same.

\"You know, Mr. Black, that Harry Potter has applied to be an Auror?\" she spoke suddenly.

Sirius started and stared at her wide-eyed. \"He has? That\'s wonderful! He\'ll do a fine job, I know it. Although, he\'s too much like his mother, sometimes, and let\'s his temper get the best of him.\"

Bryn leaned forward. \"You didn\'t know? But aren\'t you his godfather?\"

Sirius felt his stomach twisting itself in knots and grimaced. \"Ah, what with everything going on, it was decided that the two of us together would be a very tempting target for Voldemort\'s group. I hope he\'s doing well, though.\"

Bryn hummed and looked at her wine. \"Very well, I\'m sure he has some news that he would like to give to you personally. Becoming an Auror probably fits in that category. I\'m sorry, I reckoned he would have done so by now.\"

Sirius waved the though away as the new drinks came. Gulping down the amber liquid, he ordered another one. Turning back to a very surprised Bryn, he suddenly remembered who\'s company he was in. \"Whoops, ah...\", he froze when he saw her grin mischievously and copy his movements.

\"Firewhiskey for me, too, please.\" she told the waiter and bit her lip as he walked off with a sniff. Looking at Sirius, she composed her features. \"What? You think I\'d let you have all the fun of getting pissed and not join you?\"

Sirius chuckled and scratched his head. \"No, I don\'t suppose you would.\" he admitted. \"So, what does a guy have to do to get a nice girl like you to join him at the Leakey Cauldron after this? I don\'t think the owner would appreciate it if we got pissed here.\"

Bryn thought for a moment, tilting her head just slightly as she considered him. \"Well, Sirius, you could try refraining from calling her a nice girl. Nice girls don\'t drink, they stay at home and let the other girls have all the fun.\" Their food arrived along with their newest glasses of alcohol as she said this, steam wafting off of the plates.

Sirius responded, \"Well, then, I guess I\'ll have to try that on one of those other types of girls. They seem infinitely more appealing to me. Shall we have a toast?\" Bryn raised her glass and Sirius looked straight into her eyes and murmured, \"May you live as long as you want; and never want as long as you live.\" Bryn smiled warmly at him before taking a sip of her wine, watching as he did the same.

Sometime later, they were laughing uproariously in a corner of the Leakey Cauldron. Bryn giggled, it was her turn to toast. \"Ah, ok... I got one! Ok, you ready? Don\'t make love by the garden gate; love is blind, but the neighbors ain\'t!\" They both exploded into laughter once more, struggling to actually drink anything.

Sirius cleared his throat and forcibly smoothed his features. \"Ah ha, my lady, I believe I have one for you. I drink to your charm, your beauty, and your brains- which gives you a rough idea how hard up I am for a drink.\" Bryn stared at him for a moment before dissolving into giggles once more.

Falling out of her chair, she looked up to see Tom standing over her. \"Hullo, Tom! Care to join us dor a frink?\"

Tom helped her up and handed Sirius the bill. \"No, I think it\'s time for you to go home now, you\'ve had more than enough on your own. Should I Floo you?\"

Bryn waved his concerns away. \"Psshh! I\'m fine, Tom. Hey, j\'you know where I can find my house? I seem to have misplaced it sometime tonight. Sirius, you know where it is?\"

Sirius was drinking a potion and looked up at her. \"Yes, I do. Here, Bryn, why don\'t you drink some of this? It will help clear your head.\" He felt better, but not completely sober. The whole potion was needed to do that.

Bryn took a step towards the door and scoffed at him. \"I\'ve never felt better, I don\'t need that. For all I know, you\'re trying to sober me up; and THAT would be a travesty. Now, Tom wants us to go, so can you help me get home?\"

Sirius stood and caught her arm as she tripped over a chair. He steered her towards the fireplace and nodded for the Floo powder. As Tom threw some in, Sirius guided Bryn into it. \"Number 5, Wirewoods Circle.\" he exclaimed and watched her disappear. Giving Tom the money for the bill, he followed her.

Bryn was sitting on a table when he stepped into her house, soot still covering most of her. \"Wow, that\'s even more fun than I remember!\" she giggled.

Sirius put an arm around her shoulder and helped her up. \"I\'m sure it was, but let\'s get you upstairs now, okay?\"

Bryn followed him, stumbling and crashing into walls, as they made their way back to her bedroom. \"Sirius? What potion did you drink?\"

Opening her bedroom door, he glanced at her. \"In the pub? It\'s a sober-up potion. I only drank half, I\'m saving the other half for you. Would you drink it for me?\" he asked, hoping he made it sound appealing.

Apparently, he didn\'t. Bryn shook her head again and swayed dangerously. Laughing, she stumbled into her dresser. \"Ow! I stubbed my toe. Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!\" Sirius pulled her towards the bed and she fell on top of him. \"Oh, great idea! This will help me forget about my toe.\" She started nibbling on his ear and giggled when he groaned.

He tried to roll her off, but she had leverage and wouldn\'t budge. \"Bryn, stop!\" She didn\'t listen to him and he felt her hands undoing his trousers. \"Stop, please! Bryn I don\'t want to do this when you\'re drunk. STOP!\" He got out from under her and she rolled off the bed, hitting the floor hard.

Pouting up at him, she sniffed. \"You don\'t like me!\"

Bending down, he captured both of her hands in his. \"No, it\'s not that. I think you\'re absolutely brilliant, I really do. But I don\'t want you to wake up tomorrow and regret anything, that\'s all. I want you to know that you\'re the most breath taking woman I\'ve ever seen and I would love to make love to you sometime. But not now. Right now, you need to get in bed, all right?\"

Bryn sniffed again and gave him a watery smile. \"Ok, but only after you give me a kiss.\"

Sirius was turning down the blankets and glanced up at her. \"A kiss? Erm, I suppose.\" He leaned forward to give her a chaste kiss on the cheek and gasped as her lips found his. Taking advantage of his open mouth, Bryn slipped her tongue inside. Returning her actions, blood pounded in his ears.

She was the first woman he\'d even wanted to kiss since he\'d gotten out of Azkaban and it felt amazing. Tangling his hand in her hair, he pulled her closer and felt her body press into his. Laying her down on the carpet, he ran his hands down her body. Her hips arched up, craving more contact, and he froze. \"No! I can\'t do this, Bryn. Listen we\'re both drunk still and I\'m getting tired, why don\'t we get into the bed and sleep?\"

Bryn blew a piece of hair out of her eyes. \"I suppose so.\"

Grinning, Sirius helped her into bed and lay next to her. His eyes were feeling extremely heavy, but he had to wait until she went to sleep so he could change into a dog.

It was unlikely, he figured, that she would remember any of this in the morning. That would save some awkward moments and embarrassed looks, making it easier for him to get her to go out with him again.

Listening to her breathing getting slower, he cautiously extricated himself from her arms and got off the bed. Pulling out a bottle of hangover potion, he wrote her a quick note before brushing a kiss over her lips and becoming her pet once more.




Well, I just finished book six. This story is now so COMPLETELY AU. That kinda sucks, ya know? Oh well, I\'m still saying Sirius didn\'t die when he fell through the veil. And, ah, the person in book six who died didn\'t really die either. (The end of the funeral, that makes me think it didn\'t happen) Anywho, I\'m trying not to give everything away for those who haven\'t read the book, really I am.