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“so does your parent’s hotel require you to dress up as a maid when you’re working?” James asked smirking widely, as he glanced over to where I was stretched out in the Gryffindor common room. I groaned internally, immediately regretting not having stayed in the sanctuary of my dorm. The silence was almost comforting compared to James Potter’s attempts at humour. “it’s a hotel, not a brothel,” I stated flatly, shooting him a dirty look as James and the other Marauders smirked having stretched themselves out over the sofa and the floor opposite me, all enjoying James’ wit as per usual.
“But do you have to wear a maid dress?” Sirius pressed, leaning forward, the same smirk stretched across his face, the man loved nothing more than winding me up. “of course not, I just help out sometimes, I’m not an escort!!” he shrugged, but said no more as he leant back to settle against the sofa, I rolled my eyes at him, unsurprised that he would ask about a maid dress. Did he have a maid kink or something? Probably did now I thought about it. “maybe we should get her one for her birthday,” he mused to Sirius who nodded, fist bumping him.
Now I'm aware that they probably sounded very creepy to anyone listening in, however, I had grown up with James Potter, and since meeting the marauders had become good enough friends with them to let the jokes slide. Even when those jokes were in terrible taste. Or at my expense. Usually both. “or maybe you could focus on your own lives,” I suggested sweetly, flicking absentmindedly through my magazine before tossing it to the side,
I did not need to know about the latest beauty trend when I instead had to focus on the start of the easter holidays where my family’s hotel would be in full swing and I would be working there for the duration of the holidays. Honestly, I had no complaints though, as I thoroughly enjoyed working in the hotel, unless a certain Mr Potter was asking questions about the dress code that is. But the family hotel was truly my happy place and special.
…
I had lied.
The hotel might have been a special place for me, so happy and welcoming but my merlin was it a pain in the arse to get to. The train to London was fine, the train back out of London always seemed longer even though I could’ve sworn the muggles high speed railways were meant to make it faster. Either way, I was always relieved when at long last the huge country manor style building in the centre of a tourist town came into view.
Pushing open the door, ignoring the light tinkle of a bell I could’ve sworn I had silenced, I took a deep breath, enjoying the warmth that filled my lungs, a combination of fresh linen, coffee being freshly brewed and sunshine. It smelt like home. “welcome,” my dad’s words cut off as he caught sight of me on the other side of the desk, “welcome home trouble,” I laughed quietly, “good to be back,” his eyebrow rose, “you won’t be saying that when I hand you a to do list,” I rolled my eyes good naturedly, laughing quietly as I walked round the counter.
Shoving my suitcase under it, “better hand me the list,” he sighed, plucking a piece of paper from the desk and handing it to me. “your mum thinks the new cook was trained in jail and is going to poison us all,” “chance would be a fine thing,” the last cook hadn’t exactly been Michelin starred, and had come pretty close to poisonings, that was why he had been relieved of his duties. “room 15 are complaining about a haunting,” we both smiled wryly, we were wizards, ghosts passed through the hotel like muggles.
We just didn’t tell them as such.
“I’ll see what I can do,” he nodded, “room forty want clean towels, room ten want a menu,” he scoffed quietly, “and I want a holiday,” I muttered flatly. Shrugging off my jacket and rolling up the sleeves of my knitted sweater, tying my hair higher onto my head, “term that good?” I shrugged with a sigh, leaning against the wall behind the counter that led to the family office.
“the usual,” my mind drifted briefly to the common room, the warmth of the fire, the quiet background noise that filled my ears when I sat reading a book, and the four boys who had been my companions for as long as I could remember. “the Potters won’t be visiting this holiday, said something about James being lovesick,” I couldn’t help the cackle that slipped past my lips, “love that for him,” my dad shrugged laxly, “when you fall in love you’ll understand,” I shook my head silently.
Fat chance of that happening.
“you’ll be the first to know,” I muttered under my breath, already heading towards the stairs before he could provide a suitable fatherly response. At least my return came without fanfare, I didn’t need a celebration for returning, I would always want to return, and I liked to do so quietly. Within half an hour the ‘haunting’ had been ended, I'd had a word with the ghosts in question and asked them to at least wait till the current residents departed, they could haunt till their hearts were content after that.
Just without scaring the shit out of unsuspecting muggles. There wasn’t much I could do about the chef but I'd given room ten a menu and promised chef would do his best, negating to mention that his best may not be what they were expecting. Since then, I'd taken over reception, sending the Saturday muggle girl away for lunch, while I sat behind the counter perched on a breakfast stool that was as uncomfortable as it looked but allowed me to see over the counter and survey the reception between flicking through the bookings ledger.
We were fully booked as expected, for the entire holiday break, couples, families, solo travellers likely sightseeing, people would come and they would go and the hotel would still be standing. Admittedly I had a low tolerance for stupid people, so I was usually kept away from reception, but the relative peace of the reception was certainly tolerable, certainly quieter than the Gryffindor common room could ever hope to be.
“I don’t know why you come back, if I went to boarding school I certainly wouldn’t bother,” Adrian commented, propping up the edge of the counter, supposedly enroute outside for a smoke but hadn’t made it that far as of yet. “then you don’t know me very well,” I quipped quietly, flicking another full page of bookings, “and to think we’ve grown up together,” we hadn’t. Adrian had only joined the team after finishing education at age 16 and in need of hospitality season had been taken on by my parents.
Desperate for additional hands round the hotel had jumped at the opportunity, he was a good guy at the end of the day and hadn’t tried to poison guests which was always a win. “go and smoke,” I muttered, closing the ledger with a snap and returned it to its spot. He laughed but did as he was told as I shifted awkwardly, refolding one leg over the other as the door closed, a sharp draft following it. It reopened once more several moments later, slower and with less of a draft. “What on earth…” I barely finished my sentence as Sirius Black strolled in, unphased and never rushed, like he had just come in from a leisurely dog walk and happened to get curious.
I was certain my eyebrows were in my hairline, “didn’t realise you were desk girl,” he commented as he strode over, long trench coat slightly crumpled likely from some illegal apparition, hair messy and windswept, hands thrust deeply into pockets. He looked no different to the Sirius I was used, still appearing carefree and arrogantly confident, yet something felt off. “what on merlin’s earth are you doing here?” I questioned flatly, pushing myself off the stool, feeling it bounce back to full height behind me, a small smirk flittered onto his face, clearly anticipating my reaction.
“it’s lovely to see you too, y/l/n,” my eyebrow rose further if that was at all possible, “seriously, what are you doing here.” his eyes were not focused on me, instead flicking around the reception almost in surprise, caught somewhere between surprise and awe, before nodding like he approved. “well I’ve been told you have charming staff,” he leant in conspiratory, “and excellent room service, even maid costumes included!” my arms folded over my chest, eyes narrowing to glare at him.
“get out,” his smirk disappeared briefly, “very harsh to a paying customer,” I cast my mind back to the ledger, “you don’t have a reservation” “do I need one?” I was nodding before he had finished the question. “tragic that,” god he was hard work. Up close, I was able to study him properly, while he took in the reception I took in him, his usually relaxed posture was ever so slightly too rigid, shoulders squared like he was preparing for a fight, eyes cataloguing the space, eyes fixing on an exit sign for a beat too long.
“where are the others?” he shrugged, “I don’t travel with an audience,” many would disagree with that, “no James? Remus? Peter?” I questioned as he ran through his hair, exasperation filling his tone for a moment, “I do exist outside of them,” I sighed quietly, “I know, I'm sorry,” it was just rare to see one without the rest. Sirius in particular didn’t do being alone, even at common room parties when girls and guys were throwing themselves at his feet, he was never alone. He didn’t like to be, I knew that much.
“So why are you here then? The real reason?” he shrugged, still trying to play off relaxed, “thought I'd try the muggle world, you know learn the other side and all that,” I barely held back the scoff, “you’re a terrible liar,” he shrugged, “had plenty of practice, maybe you’re just attune,” I shrugged again. Finally asking, “do you need a room?” for a moment he was silent like weighing up the correct answer, “Sirius,” I murmured softly, “do you have one?” I nodded knowing my parents wouldn’t be delighted to hear I'd given it away but would forgive me if I explained it was a friend.
“There is one spare for emergencies,” I admitted quietly, watching his eyes flicker to mine in surprise, “I count as an emergency?” I shrugged, I knew him well enough to know he wouldn’t have shown up for no reason. “I'm counting it as an emergency,” before he could question just what that meant I reached for the key from behind me, flicking it off the hook in one swift movement.
“I’ll take it,” he murmured voice guarded as I walked round the counter to him, “please don’t make me regret this, it’s my parents’ legacy,” I murmured carefully, beckoning for him to follow me up the grand staircase. We walked in complete silence before I bought him to a stop in the furthest wing from the main hotel, it was where most of the staff lived including my family and my room.
“something is wrong, Sirius,” I stated finally, voice quiet, his eyes met mine for a moment before he looked away, “everything’s fine,” I shook my head, slotting the key into the door and twisting it till the door popped open, plucking it back out of the lock I opened the door, beckoning for him to follow me once more. I still didn’t believe him. I moved without thinking, setting about opening curtains, clicking on the muggle lamp in practiced routine, it was second nature after all.
“it’s not a five-star hotel, but it’s clean and comfy and we can sort most things,” I explained, turning back to face him. The bright sunshine pouring into the room allowing me to see what I had earlier missed, a darkening bruise around his eye, I was in front of him before I could think. Clasping his face in my hands, “what happened?” I whispered as he looked away, shaking my grasp off, “nothing,” he was a shit liar.
“You are terrible at lying,” he chuckled quietly, “I’ll need more practice then,” deflecting was such a tell with Sirius. “Something happened at home, didn’t it?” for a minute he continued staring off into the distance before turning back to me, my hands slowly reaching for his face, when he said nothing, I sighed quietly. Not out of pity, merlin knew Sirius would never allow me to pity him but because this wasn’t the boy who teased me about maid outfits, this was a boy who had got a shit deal in life, and running was his only way out.
“stay as long as you need, I’ll sort it and I’ll get something for that,” before he could argue I skittered out of the room, all but running down the stairs to the first aid cupboard we kept tucked out of view below the counter. I didn’t even think twice as I bound back up the stairs, hovering outside Sirius’ door for a moment, knocking seemed stupid but I was still careful to not interrupt.
Carefully turning the door handle, to squeeze throw it, “I'm here,” my voice was barely above a whisper, Sirius was on the futon at the base of the bed, coat discarded, head in hands as he stared at the floor. My voice pulled him out of whatever he’d been thinking about for a second, eyes meeting mine as I shut the door behind me, slipping to perch beside him, my eyes cataloguing the jaw injury, and the marks round his neck.
“fights don’t suit you,” I commented, carefully opening the first aid box, “you should see the other guy,” a small smile flickered to his face as I laughed quietly, knowing he was deflecting but not pushing, he didn’t need that. “don’t argue with me,” I ordered when he went to open his mouth upon catching sight of the first aid kit, for once he closed his mouth slowly and nodded slightly. Just enough that I knew he wouldn’t fight me as I set about pressing a cold compress to his jaw, his flinch marginal, “I'm sorry,” I whispered, using one hand to hold the cold compress, the other carefully examining his neck, “it’s fine.”
We both knew it wasn’t.
…
I hadn’t realised how knackered I was until I was stood in the centre of my room, staring into the mirror that was above my sink that had been recessed into the wall with a closet door to hide it. Darkness had covered my room, but I was yet to the shut the curtains, finding solace in the darkness. I had mentioned a friend staying in the emergency room to my parents, downplayed it massively but they hadn’t questioned it, the rest of the staff wouldn’t either if they were told to drop it.
Sighing to myself I shut the closet door, and walked to my bed, settling in the middle, pulling up my blanket as my eyes flickered to the window, I had wound fairy lights round the curtain rail which was the only light in the room, it was the only light I needed. The image of Sirius with bruises was going to haunt me I just knew it, I'd seen him with bruises before, usually from quidditch or a stupid scrap with some Slytherin but they were nothing like this one. This one was going to haunt me.
From my room I could hear the rest of the hotel settling into night, floorboards creaking quietly as people climbed the stairs to their rooms, taps switching on and off, a few doors opening here and there. It was all safe and practiced, until a soft knock broke through. No one knocked on my door, it was a rule my parents had enforced, if in doubt go to them, let me have my nights to myself.
When the knock repeated I scrambled off my bed, padding over to the door, hoping whoever was on the other side was used to seeing teen girls in scatty pjs they refused to get rid of. I opened the door a few inches, poking my head round and blinking back the bright lights of the corridor just enough to focus on Sirius, “hi,” he sounded so unsure I was sure my heart had just broke into several pieces, “come in,” when he didn’t move, I sighed, reaching for his hand to pull him through the door, shutting it behind him and flicking the lock shut.
“can I stay with you? Just for a bit,” he promised earnestly as I gestured over to my bed, his jaw clenching and unclenching, a nervous tick of his. “I can’t be alone right now,” I nodded, gesturing once more to my bed as he carefully walked over to it, “never thought I'd see the day you invited me to bed,” I laughed quietly “first time for everything I suppose.”
He nodded silently, hovering as I crawled under my duvet, “get in for god’s sake, you’re making it look dirty,” his eyebrow silently, a flash of the Sirius I knew, “five-star customer service this,” I rolled my eyes watching as he finally settled beside me under the blanket. “no mints on pillows here, sorry if you’re disappointed,” he chuckled quietly, a faint smile flicking to his lips, “I’ll live,” I nodded in agreement, watching as he took in my room. “sorry I just couldn’t, not tonight,” he muttered, his words sounding chosen, I nodded through the darkness,
“I get it, just sleep, no one is going to ask questions.” His eyebrow rose for a flick second, “sounds like an abuse of power,” I shrugged, “would you argue with the owner’s daughter?” he shrugged, “we do a pretty good job of arguing most of the time,” I smiled softly, “sleep Sirius, there is always tomorrow,” he nodded slowly snuggling down under the duvet as I watched over him for a moment. My fingers moving on their own to settle in his hair, playing with several strands absentmindedly as his breathing mellowed into a quiet rhythm.
Despite having only arrived a few days prior, Sirius had somehow made himself into a piece of the furniture. I hadn’t really noticed it originally, a few guests mentioning the handsome dark-haired boy who had been sweet to them at breakfast, helped with luggage at check out, nothing particularly remarkable. My mum had then chimed in, a few well-placed comments about how my friend was so well mannered, nodding approvingly when she spotted us together, even my dad had agreed, and he didn’t trust anyone.
Merlin he still didn’t fully trust Adrian, and yet he had been sucked into Sirius’ charm. Charm that he had been using on everyone, even the older guests were not immune to a few flirty lines that had them howling so loudly I could hear them from the back office. Even Sirius had relaxed, not completely, he wasn’t as nonchalant as at Hogwarts, but he had settled, relaxed into a pattern around the hotel, like he wasn’t going to bolt at a moment’s notice. And that, that gave me a lot of relief I didn’t want to put a name on.
“you seem to think I require supervision,” I commented from where I was perched on the stool at the counter once more, having relived the poor muggle girl of desk duty, she’d almost fainted at the sight of Sirius much to his amusement. Not so much to mine. “doesn’t everyone?” he quipped, propping up the edge of the counter as he read over my shoulder the booking I was rewriting after it had become so smudged it was illegible.
“I am the supervisor,” I muttered under my breath, carefully moving my glass of water away from the ledger as I set it down to dry properly, “I’ve always loved a woman in charge,” Sirius murmured, licking his lips as I rolled my eyes at him. “just remember you’re a guest,” he chuckled quietly, deeply amused by my irritation, “funny how we’re now doing long stays,” Adrian commented, likely enroute for a smoke.
My eyebrow rose challengingly, as Sirius straightened up beside me, his shoulders rolling back in my peripheral vision, “I’m heartbroken Andy, I thought we were bonding,” I bit the inside of my mouth to stop myself laughing as Adrian’s jaw clenched. Adrian ignored him turning instead to me, “you spend a lot of time with him,” I shrugged, “we are friends from school,” Adrian didn’t look convinced, something sharper resting on his face as he looked between us, “right, so friends can now stay over like stray cats?” he questioned as Sirius straightened up even further, god the man must’ve drank a lot of milk as a kid.
I'd seen him at his full height a handful of times, and it was something to witness. “he’s a customer Adrian, it’s not a big deal,” I stated flatly, watching as he pushed back off the counter, still looking unconvinced, “whatever you say,” with that he sloped off towards the door, “try and stay out of trouble,” the smile didn’t reach his eyes but neither did mine, with the door shut Sirius glanced down to me. “ignore him, it’s easier for everyone,” I muttered feeling decidedly unsettled, “was planning to,” Sirius muttered, eyes fixed on the direction Adrian had gone in.
“he’s annoying,” Sirius added after a beat of silence, I said nothing and shrugged, “he’s been with us for a while, not much I can do about him” Sirius shook his head. “he’s too old for you, isn’t he?” my eyes flickered to his in surprise, Adrian was two years my senior roughly, maybe two and a bit, I'd never focused on the details. Never focused on him. I'd found fairly early on my type was purebloods who had family issues, dark hair and brooding egos.
“you cannot be serious,” his eyebrow rose as I cackled loudly, “I am Sirius, and I'm serious too, he seems interested,” I shrugged nonchalantly, “too bad I'm not,” my eyes lingered on his for a moment longer than necessary, willing him to realise what I meant. When he said nothing, I hopped off the stool, ignoring the way it bounced back up once more and sighed, eyes roaming the key rack behind Sirius, “you’re not very convincing,” he murmured softly, stepping into my line of vision, “about?” “Not being interested,” I shrugged, wondering how far to push it.
“I'm not interested in him” I amended, watching Sirius tilt his head to the side, eyes studying me, flicking between my lips and my eyes, before to the door behind me and back to me once more. “good,” his voice lowered, something hot settling in, as I reached behind me to clasp the counter, “I'd hate to have competition.” My breath caught in my mouth, grip tightening on the countertop,
“you are making things very difficult,” I whispered, not sure why when no one was around, “you make me want to do bad things to you” Sirius smirked widely, amusement flickering across his face with the smirk, a smirk I had seen make people drop everything for him. I was not immune either. His gaze shifted, eyes darkening, hands tensing like he was desperately trying to maintain a semblance of control, “some of your guests would definitely require medical attention.” I nodded, but it didn’t mean I wasn’t willing to risk it, my heart thundering against my ribs, so loud I was certain he could hear it. Our breathing the only thing I could focus on.
He moved first, stepping closer to me, mere inches between us, heat pooled into those few inches, daring me to make a move. “Sirius-” a loud bang of a door snapped us apart, body jerking against the counter like I'd been caught doing something naughty. I very nearly had. “thank merlin you are here,” my mum rushed through, face flushed with exasperation, “I need you, to go and deal with the chef before I lose one in high season for and I quote ‘not respecting his creative process,’” judging from her expression she had no idea what that meant either.
“go, please,” she urged hurriedly, “right yes, coming,” I turned to face Sirius briefly, who was the picture of amusement, his voice dropping just low enough only I could hear him, “you certainly would’ve been if we hadn’t been disturbed,” I closed my eyes, shaking my head, willing myself not to get too caught up in what he was saying. “please just, be good while I'm gone, don’t let the building burn down,” with that I hurried off, barely catching his promise not to on scouts’ honour. I doubted he even knew what the scouts were.
It didn’t matter though the kitchen was a mess, servers lined the wall with looks of sheer terror, while I stood across from the chef, arms folded defiantly over my chest, as mum waved her arms around trying to curtail the lecture on culinary creativity no one had asked for. “you just don’t understand me!” god he was like a petulant toddler, “no you’re right, I don’t,” I stated sharply, voice raising over the banging and clanging of pots and pans, the bubbling of overfilled pots and god knew what else, cutting off both him and mum, “nor do I care to, you are paid to be a chef, not give me a lecture.” He shut up. Finally, finally lunch service went out, and no one was poisoned. Yet.
“you’re very bossy,” Sirius commented leisurely from the doorway of the store cupboard I found myself searching for an apron that had grown legs and gone on a holiday of its’ own. “I'm the boss when my parents aren’t here,” I replied flatly, getting down on my hands and knees to search the floor, “very busy being the boss,” he commented pointlessly as I sighed, still searching, “it’s a shame you’re so busy,” I glanced up at him, “and why is that?” “could’ve made you a lot less stressed,” he replied simply.
Stepping closer in the doorway until only a slither of light was coming in from behind him, “that is a terrible idea,” he chuckled quietly, “don’t you know, darling? All the best ideas are bad ones,” the hairs on the back of my neck were all standing up as he stepped further into the box that was the cupboard, the door closing further, leaving no light shining in. “Sirius-” my voice hitched as I turned round to stare up at him, still knelt on the floor gripping the apron I had finally found, a small, amused smile etched onto his face, “you do suit, darling,” he murmured, carefully crouching down in the cramped space to be eye level to me.
“you’re… you’re in the way” I mumbled, my fingers tightening their grip on the apron, “what a pity,” he murmured, his face mere inches from mine despite the darkness. If I'd wanted him to move, the only direction he was willing to move in was closer to me. “I need…you need to move,” I managed to stutter out, my pulse racing, “move me then darling,” his voice was low, filled with promise, though definitely not to move.
The challenge hung in the air between us, I was certain I had forgotten how to breathe, my hand reached out, planning to nudge him away from me, but instead took a hold of his shirt, the soft fabric easily curled against my fingers, pulling him closer to me, which had not been the aim but I wasn’t complaining. “still think this is a bad idea?” he whispered, leaning ever closer till his forehead was pressed against mine, “terrible,” even in the darkness I could feel his smirk, neither of us moved.
“excuse me?” God we were always getting interrupted. “yes?” I asked as daylight streamed into the dark cupboard, Sirius busying himself with one of the storage boxes beside me like he had been focused on work the whole time, “I was just looking for someone-” I nodded, slowly rising to my feet to smile at the customer. “sorry just give me a moment, my colleague and I lost something,” I lied fluently, carefully scrambling over Sirius’ form to exit the cupboard, not before catching Sirius muttering under his breath about always being busy.
Nudging him slightly I smiled to the customer and led them over to the desk, my eyes only half focused on the job at hand as I watched Sirius emerge from the cupboard, dusting off imaginary dirt with a small smirk. “thank you,” the customer disappeared off as Sirius came to rest on the counter ahead of me, “you’re not a customer,” I reminded him quietly, “no,” he agreed, voice lowering, “I'm something very different.” I nodded in agreement, “a liability, a problem, someone making my life very difficult,” he smirked slightly, leaning across the counter to clasp my face in his hand.
“difficult? Me?” he pressed his hand to his chest as I stared heavenward, desperately in need of some divine intervention. “Sirius…” I groaned quietly, watching his eyes flicker between my lips and the rest of my face, head tilted to the side as he attempted an innocent smile, “yes darling?” I groaned again, burying my head in my hands. “is this you behaving?” I questioned flatly as he chuckled, his laughter echoing across the empty lobby, “I'm being very good actually,” my eyebrow rose silently.
“at least I'm not pretending to be working, you haven’t opened that ledger all morning,” he was too observant sometimes, I said nothing for a moment, “you’re very distracting,” it was his turn to let out a groan, running his hands through his hair irritably, “dear merlin,” he muttered under his breath, still tugging at his hair as I placed my hands on his hair, his movements stilling. “you’re meant to be the responsible one,” he groaned out, composure shattering inch by inch, “and you’re supposed to be the flirt I ignore but here we are,” he nodded, letting out another frustrated groan, giving me a final look that promised we remained unfinished, before turning on his heel.
That was the first time I had seen Sirius almost lose it all, and somehow hold it together enough to walk away.
I hated it.
…
In the following days Sirius still lurked in doorways, watching on, occasionally commenting, especially when it pissed off Adrian which seemed to be his newfound pass time. Except he was different, Sirius avoided my personal space, several metres between us at all times, even Adrian had noticed and he noticed bugger all. “trouble in paradise?” he questioned as I sat in the back office, feet on the desk staring heavenwards, wondering why Sirius was suddenly so uninterested in touching me, just days before we were close to a cupboard make out session and now, he was nowhere near me.
“what makes you say that?” I questioned flatly, wishing Adrian would mind his own business for once. “lover boy is nowhere near you,” he replied simply, nodding to the other side of the door where Sirius was propping up the counter once again, “how astute,” I muttered under my breath, Adrian didn’t move, another teenage boy incapable of taking a hint. The hotel was infested with them.
“It’s weird,” he acknowledged, “he always hovers around you,” my eyes flickered briefly to the glass door, Sirius was still at the counter but now chatting animatedly to a customer, without a care in the world. “Maybe he’s found something better to do,” Adrian smirked for a second, “or someone,” I didn’t hesitate to throw the nearest ledger at his head, annoyed when he ducked it with ease. “get out,” I ordered, as he cackled obnoxiously, leaving the room as my fingers itched to throw something else. Just some sort of release.
I spent the rest of my shift pissed off, pissed off that Sirius wasn’t touching me, wasn’t just giving in like I wanted him to and that Adrian couldn’t keep his mouth shut. Night had fallen and the hotel was quiet again, I'd handed over to someone else to take lobby duty for a few hours, and was marching up to Sirius’ room before I could second guess myself. My fist banged on the door once, firmly and loud, the sound reverberating down the hallway, good thing no one from my family would be in their rooms yet.
A brief pause then the door creaked open, Sirius blinking back the light of the corridor, “move,” I ordered flatly, elbowing the door when he didn’t move fast enough, he let out a low chuckle, “very bossy tonight,” I said nothing, stepping into the room and waiting for him to shut the door behind me. “this feels very familiar,” he murmured softly, his tone still teasing as I rounded on him, “don’t start,” I ordered, his eyebrow rose silently, hands up in mock surrender, “you don’t get to… you don’t get to watch me and then disappear.”
Words were on the edge of spilling out of me, “I haven’t disappeared, I'm right here,” his voice was flat, devoid of emotion as my fists clenched at my sides, “you can’t just do all these things and then act like I don’t exist!” his eyes shut for a moment, when they reopened there was a determination in their depths, “I'm not doing that, I'm trying to not do something I can’t stop,” he murmured quietly as I stalked up to him.
“that’s a you problem,” he chuckled quietly, “believe me darling, I'm well aware its’ a me problem,” heat bubbled between us, “stop playing this game Sirius, it’s a dangerous one,” he relaxed for a moment, “aren’t they the best kind?” I groaned, “stop deflecting!” I wanted to shake him, reach up and knock some sense into him before I lost my last ounce of sanity. “I can’t keep control when you keep doing this,” he muttered, eyes meeting mine head on as I stood in front of him, “I never asked you to be controlled,” I whispered, “no but you deserve it, you deserve me to be controlled, to make it worth waiting for, you deserve that,” it was like he was talking to himself more than me as I reached up and clasped his face in my hands.
“tell me to stop,” I shook my head instantly, “I don’t want you to stop,” I practically watched his last ounce of self-control shatter, his hands reaching for me, gripping my waist pulling me up against him. “merlin you’re trouble,” he groaned, his fingers inching under my work uniform to grip the flesh of my waist, “you knew that,” I murmured, looping my arms round the back of his neck, tugging him towards me until his lips were hovering above mine.
“it has been so hard,” I smirked up at him as he rolled his eyes at me, “so hard to not touch you,” I shrugged nonchalantly, my eyes flickering downwards to his grip on my waist, “doesn’t seem to be hard right now,” a strained sound ripped from his throat, “I promise you it is,” he groaned out through gritted teeth as my smirk widened even further. “good,” unable to drag him down to my level much further I rose up onto my toes, slamming our lips together in a tangle of teeth and tongues, his restraint cracked, lips moving against mine, hands roaming down to my hips to pin them to him, backing us into the door so I was pinned between him and it.
“I have been trying so hard,” he panted out, “to not just drag you into that back office and do all the things I’ve been telling myself I wouldn’t,” only our ragged breathing filled the air, “all the things?” I wouldn’t let him just leave it, I wanted him to spell it out, to assure me it wasn’t just me. His forehead dropped to mine, shoulders and chest heaving as he cracked again, “how you’d feel under me,” he whispered, “how you’d sound, how you’d look when you stopped pretending you didn’t want this as much as I do.” I whimpered softly, “you’re going to be the death of me,” a small smirk flittered to his lips, “bit dramatic darling” his voice low, mouth next to my ear, “I think you’d enjoy it quite a lot.”
We didn’t get a chance to see if he was right, as a loud bang on the door had me lurching off it into Sirius’ arms, his forehead dropped to mine, a small disbelieving exhale slipping between us. “you’ve got be kidding me,” “Black? Are you in there?” my dad’s voice rang out, as my face flamed, “oh my god,” Sirius let out a small laugh though no humour was in it, “Black?” my dad called again, as I groaned, hiding my head in his chest briefly wondering if we could pretend, we hadn’t heard.
When there was yet another knock, I knew it wasn’t an option and tugged away, making a beeline for the bathroom, gently closing the door behind me before throwing myself against it. heart pounding out of my chest, on the other side of the door I heard Sirius open the main door, chatting calmly with my dad like we hadn’t been very close to making grandchildren. I squeezed my eyes shut, willing myself not to imagine what Sirius had said, how he would feel above me, how he would sound when he finally gave in rather than his thinly veiled self-restraint. Whatever self-control he thought he had, I certainly didn’t share.
And I wasn’t convinced I was going to last much longer.
I stayed in the bathroom longer than necessary, long enough that the heat in my cheeks faded at least a little, long enough for me to slow my breathing to a sensible pace. Not long enough for me to get over what had nearly happened. Finally I opened the door with a gentle click, finding Sirius sat on the futon once more, his eyes meeting mine as I shut the door behind me. “all clear,” he muttered sarcastically as I nodded awkwardly, “you ran,” I nodded silently, “we nearly got caught,” he shrugged laxly.
“you alright?” I opened my mouth to reply only to close it again when nothing came out, “fine,” I managed, “I'm not,” he replied conversationally, like we were discussing the weather. “you didn’t stop,” I whispered quietly as he shrugged again, “I told you I wouldn’t be able to,” I stepped closer, coming to a stop ahead of him, as he widened his legs, gesturing for me to stand between them, his arms wrapping round my waist, staring up at me.
“you should go before I forget what control is,” I wanted to argue, to tell him it wouldn’t matter but that determined look was back even if his voice betrayed him. “Should I?” he nodded, “before your parents have grandchildren,” he let out a wry smile but his heart wasn’t in it, “what if I don’t want?” he sighed, eyes dropping from my face as he rested his head against my chest instead, “then I’ll end up rushing this and getting it wrong.”
His voice was barely above a whisper as I dropped down to my knees, cradling his head to my shoulder, “you won’t,” he shook his head, “you don’t know that,” my heart was breaking for him all over again like when he had first arrived. “I don’t do it like this,” he admitted finally, his voice filling the silence that had fallen over the room, “I don’t normally care about getting it wrong, and…” “you do with me,” I whispered quietly as he nodded silently.
I carefully ran one hand up, moving hair from his eyes gently, “you’re not going to get it wrong with me,” before he could say something more, I added “I know you won’t, because you care enough to worry about it,” he scoffed quietly. “low bar for a Casanova,” I shook my head, “it doesn’t matter whether it’s a low or high bar, what matters is that you’re thinking, you’re thinking of me,” I murmured softly. “you’re not going to leave, are you?” I shook my head, “I don’t care if you rush it, or if you go slower than a tortoise, I don’t care how many times you worry or change your mind, I'm not going anywhere,” as the words left me, hanging between us, I realised how true they were.
There was nothing the man could do that would get me to run away, not properly. “next time I’ll lock the door,” I laughed quietly, “stay tonight,” I nodded, gently extracting myself from his grip and took his hand, leading him to the bed and kicking off my shoes, before crawling next to him, tossing a blanket over us. No heat, no need or desperation just two souls that were slowly becoming entwined.
…
If anything over the course of the week my parents had fallen in love with Sirius, my dad taking him on as an apprentice in the workshop at the back of the hotel, which was where I was hovering in the doorway, watching them working side by side. I'd been there for a good ten minutes already when dad finally noticed me, “come to steal him away?” I smiled wryly, mum standing beside me in the doorway, “wouldn’t dream of it,” she laughed quietly, turning to face me, ignoring the two men who were now watching curiously.
“don’t let him slip through your fingers, he’s good for you,” she murmured quietly before walking into the room, “looks like you’ve got him under control,” I added, still leant against the wall. “I'm on my best behaviour,” Sirius promised as my eyebrow rose, “first time for everything,” my parents shared a knowing look, “you make me better,” Sirius replied as hearts practically appeared in their eyes.
“on that note, I will be stealing him,” I muttered, walking over to him, placing my hand round his wrist and dragging him behind me out of the workshop. “Stealing me away?” he parroted as I led him up the stairs and towards my room, “indeed,” I didn’t look back as I answered him, instead tugging my key from my pocket to unlock my room. We entered the room, making sure to lock it behind us as I kicked off my shoes, his eyes roaming the room like the first time, “I need… I need to tell you something,” he began as I settled on my window seat, patting the space beside me.
For a moment I wondered if he was going to bolt back out the door instead, but he came to sit beside me, turned to face me, as I smiled gently reaching for his hand, “I didn’t want to ruin this,” he admitted quietly, hand cupping my face, fingers brushing over my lip carefully. “I didn’t want you to realise I'm not worth keeping around,” I went to argue but he shook his head, his eyes held firm on mine, “I like you, more than I’ve ever liked anyone before, and I don’t think I’ll ever like anyone as much as I like you.”
The words hung between us, his eyes filled with worry as I stared back to him, “you’re wrong, you are worth keeping around, I'd keep you around forever,” carefully I edged closer to him, gently pressing my lips to his, for a moment we were soft and tender, words being filled by actions. Before his hand slipped to the back of my neck, desperation and hunger seeping in, “bed, please Sirius,” I whispered, as he lifted me up without hesitation, my legs wrapping easily around his waist as he walked effortlessly over to the bed, undoing buttons between kisses.
His eyes widened as he rested above me, like he couldn’t believe I was saying yes to him, “please Sirius,” I whispered again, fully prepared to beg if that was what it would take to convince him. “you’re sure?” I nodded instantly, “please,” finally, his eyes darkened, like he’d had enough confirmation to lose the last of his restraint, my hands fisting into his hair as he kissed me once more, more certain and confident a satisfied moan slipping past my lips.
My eyes rolled back as he moaned against me, lips pressed into the skin of my shoulder, “you were right,” I whispered, “I usually am,” “it was worth the wait,” I confirmed as he smiled into my shoulder, “I'm glad.”
…
Sunlight streamed into my room, I had already been downstairs, ignoring my parents’ curious gazes at the lack of appearance of Sirius and made up some excuse about eating breakfast in my room seeing as I was on the afternoon shift. Truthfully, I had something else in mind. Sirius was still asleep when I made my way back into my room, a tray resting on my hip as I removed the glamour covering the short black dress I had found hidden at the back of my wardrobe and covered it with a small frilly apron giving the impression of a maid if nothing else.
Through sleep coated eyes, Sirius blinked up at me as I placed the tray down on my bedside table, his gaze roaming downwards, eyes expanding rapidly, “you are joking,” I nudged the tray towards him. “breakfast service,” a slow wicked smile spread across his face, “maid service?” I shrugged, “I wanted to make your last morning… special,” he groaned quietly, ignoring the tray as he held out his hands to reach for me.
“definitely doing that, not helping my promise to behave,” I laughed quietly, straddling his half covered lap, “you are one cruel girl,” I smiled to myself, lowering my mouth to be beside his ear, “then I suppose I shouldn’t mention that I'm not on the early shift,” he groaned lowly, “you’re going soft Sirius, so easy to tease now,” I murmured teasingly. Shifting to scramble back off him when he caught my wrist, holding me down firmly,
“no no no, I believe good customer service is to finish the job you started,” his eyes held mine as his eyebrow quirked challengingly, “you’re going to be the death of me,” he scoffed quietly.
“says the girl who is dressed like this, delivering promises,” I shrugged innocently, “I just wanted to give you five-star service,” he groaned quietly, his free hand reaching under my dress to clench the flesh of my hip, “you should eat your breakfast,” I nodded to the tray.
“Not even remotely the kind of breakfast I'm interested in,” his grip tightened on my hip, dragging me closer to him, as he leant up, his lips firmly encasing mine, slow and deep as he hummed in delight. “breakfast will get cold,” he shrugged unbothered, “let it,” his fingers carefully tracing my skin, eyes fixed on mine, mouth open ever so slightly, “you’re trouble,” he groaned quietly, as I smiled down on him, “you love it,” he nodded, “wouldn’t have you any other way.”
The happy ending.