Disclaimer: It's all JKRs.
As Melody pressed her lips against Sirius’, her heart sped up. For what seemed like the longest three seconds in her life, Sirius did not respond. Already, she had felt her face turning red and an awkwardness build up between them. And then, just as Melody was about to pull away, Sirius leaned into her, kissing her. It was quick and when he pulled away, they both stared at one another, still curious.
“We can’t. . .” Sirius whispered, somewhat hoarsely. Melody bit her lip and glanced over at the clock to see it was eleven thirty-four. She looked back at Sirius.
“We can.” she smiled, “For the next twenty-four hours. . .let’s be a real couple. Really be girlfriend and boyfriend. Really love one another the way a couple should. Just to see what it’s like. Tomorrow at eleven thirty-four, we’ll be back to pretending and forget it ever happened.”
“Just twenty-four hours?” Sirius repeated, unsure, they could be risking so much. But a bigger part of Sirius wanted to try this. Maybe, just maybe, Melody would want to keep it up.
“Yes. Just to see, Sirius,” Melody whispered, sitting up and leaning closer to him again. For a moment, Sirius didn’t say anything. Then he looked at her and kissed Melody once more.
This time the kiss was more intense. Melody leaned back, falling onto her back and Sirius hovered over her. One hand was supporting his weight and the other was touching her side. Melody pulled Sirius closer to her, causing him to collapse next to her as he shifted to not land on top of her. One hand was in Sirius’ hair, tangled in the soft, well conditioned locks. When they pulled back for a moment, Sirius ran his lips over Melody’s jaw line. She sighed as he kissed her neck. Sirius had never wanted anyone so badly, though he was not exactly paying attention the meanings of every kiss he gave to Melody.
Melody pushed Sirius so he was now on his back and she laid across him. She put her mouth with his once more. Sirius pressed back, deepening their kiss more and more, loving the taste and feel of the whole thing. Melody moaned lightly, definitely believing the rumors Sirius’ ex-girlfriends had started. Sirius wrapped his arm around Melody’s waist, pulling her even closer to him.
The snogging got more intense; deeper. They both moved and breathed as one, forgetting the rest of the world. Melody began to push Sirius’ shirt up, pulling away long enough to pull it off and let it fall to the floor. Sirius sighed as they connected again, teasing her by pulling at the straps of the tank-top she was wearing.
Someone knocked on the door and a voice called, “Melody?”
Melody cursed as she and Sirius pulled away. Startled. The door-nob turned in a painful, warning type way. Moving as fast as possible, Sirius slipped away from Melody, jumping onto the floor and sliding under the bed, pulling his shirt along with him. Sirius listened as Melody hurried to get under the covers of her bed, trying to make it look like she was sleeping. They both were out of breath and Sirius tried to be quiet as Melody tried to even hers out and make it not seem so suspicious. The door kept opening at that slow pace.
“Pretty Girl?” Greg said quietly, entering the room. Melody looked up nervously from her sheets, she was shivering slightly from the adrenaline rush Sirius had given her. She swallowed hard, hoping her father hadn’t seen, heard, or guessed that Sirius had been laying underneath her only seconds before.
“Are you awake?” her father asked, his voice still hushed. Melody sat up.
“Yes,” she said, swallowing and hoping she didn’t sound as if she was having breathing problems. Her cover sounded weak even to her own ears. She saw up, crossing her legs under her sheets. Her father walked in further and sat on the end of her bed, sighing heavily. Sirius pushed himself father away from the man’s feet.
“Are you alright, Melody? You seem to be troubled since you returned home,” Greg said slowly with concern. Melody felt a bit hurt. What this the only time her father could talk to her like this? At a quarter to midnight? Could he not talk to her tomorrow morning or another time? She and Sirius had been going somewhere. She wasn’t sure if they would have gone all the way, but they were getting close.
“I’m fine, Dad,” Melody shrugged, wanting him to leave. She doubted she and Sirius would even dare to try and pick up where they left off, but still. . .
“Don’t lie to me Melody. You are my daughter and I know you. Something is wrong. And don’t say it’s Kyle and your breakup because I can see the way you look at Sirius and the way he looks at you. I’ve never seen that look in your eyes before and I can tell you’re happy with him.” Greg said, frowning and looking at his daughter firmly. Under the bed, Sirius grinned; hopeful.
“What do you mean?” Melody asked, aware that Sirius was right below them.
“I mean you two look at each other like it’s the last time you’ll ever see each other,” her father explained, “But I didn’t come in here to talk about Sirius I—”
“Why don’t you like him?” Melody interrupted, “Why would you rather see me with Kyle?”
“Just as I told you before, Pretty Girl, I know Kyle and—”
“He was sleeping with Marissa, Daddy,” Melody said, somewhat angrily, “He wasn’t just snogging her or something, he was having sex with her. And while dating me, nonetheless. He thought nothing of it. How can you still like him after what he did to me? And how good Sirius has been since. . .” Melody wanted Sirius to hear this conversation, she realized. It was best.
“Melody. . .I know. You told me all this. It’s just. . .It’s going back to the looks you and Sirius give each other. It’s too much for a father to see. I just want you to be my little girl again. I don’t want someone to take you away from me. Kyle. . .well, in truth, it was like what your Grandmother said. You two looked uneven. You weren’t right for each other,” Greg said, smiling softly as he patted Melody’s hand. Melody didn’t believe him. He was keeping something from her and he his cover wasn’t very good, either.
“And since I answered your question, answer mine; is there something wrong with Cheryl?” he asked. Melody gave him a look.
“Ask her yourself. Maybe then I’ll understand why she’s been putting Sirius down every chance she gets, why she hates me, and why she is such a bitch!” Melody snapped angrily, voice raising slightly.
“Language, Melody. Profanities sound trashy coming from a girl,” her father scolded, standing. He was leaving. He was hearing what he didn’t want to hear and leaving. Melody couldn’t believe it. He didn’t listen to her before, then he chooses to in the middle of the night, interrupting Melody and Sirius, and now he doesn’t want to listen because he doesn’t want the truth? Could he not take it?
“Whatever,” Melody muttered under her breath. Her father just kept walking. Melody almost called him back but then let him keep walking.
The door shut, cutting off the strip of light that was shining into the room. It shut off and Melody heard the door to her father’s room shut down the hall. The house was silent for a minute and then Sirius popped up from where he had been hiding.
“You really have to clean that dust out, love,” he said, standing on his knees and resting his head on the side of the bed. Melody smiled, just looking at him making everything okay again. She spread out on her stomach so her face was directly in front of Sirius’. He kissed her softly and smiled at her.
“Aw, well, I’ll have to remember that for next time,” she grinned, laughing under her breath and pushing some of Sirius’ bangs out of his eyes.
“They’ll be a next time then?” Sirius teased. Melody giggled and twisted a piece of his hair around her finger, her smile fading. Sirius grew serious, too, brushing her cheek softly with his thumb.
“He never wants to hear it,” she said quietly.
“That’s his choice,” Sirius replied soothingly, “Melody, things will get better.”
“They just keep getting worse,” Melody shook her head, “I can only take so much more of it, Sirius.”
“They get worse before better,” Sirius shrugged and kissed her again, “Trust me, Melody, everything will turn out okay. Cheryl will get what’s coming to her, Marissa with be alone the rest of her life, Kyle will end up with a crappy job, and your dad with understand again. You’ll be happy and rich and love. . .Trust me.”
“I do,” Melody promised. Sirius smiled a little and stood up, pulling his shirt over his head. It was then that Melody had to smile a little, wanting to feel that intensity again. She sat up and cocked her head to the side as Sirius stared at her, glancing at the door.
“Don’t leave,” Melody said, trying not to make it sound like a demand. In a way, It was, because she was not going to let Sirius leave. They only have twenty-four hours, minutes of that it already over. It would go fast, why waste more moments?
“I have to,” Sirius whispered, sitting down close to her again, though he didn’t seem to want to leave either, “The past two nights, I’ve woken up and your dad was checking on me. I have to go,” he leaned forward and kissed her.
Melody watched as Sirius crossed the room and shut the door quietly behind him. She listened to his footsteps as he went down the hall to his room, but she did not hear the door shut. The house was oddly quiet then and Melody climbed between her sheets again, sighing.
She began to doze off after a while. Her mind wasn’t like Sirius’ as he dozed off. She wasn’t thinking of how painful it will be after tomorrow when they will no longer be a “real” couple. She wasn’t thinking about love or the taste of Sirius’ kiss. She wasn’t wondering why her heart was still pumping or why she still wanted Sirius next to her. And wasn’t thinking about her father’s words;
I’ve never seen that look in your eyes before and I can tell you’re happy with him.
-*-*-*-*-
The sun was bright as it shone into her room the next morning. Melody’s eyes were tired and it was incredibly early, but she knew she was not going to be going to sleep again. It was Christmas morning after all and there was a collection of presents down at the end of her bed. She pushed her sheets off and crawled down to the parcels, taking the one off the top.
Twenty minutes later, she was done. She received the cutest top from Lily, hair styling products from Lisa, a book on fashion spells from Remus, a rather large box of Honeydukes’ best chocolate from Peter, a book on simple spells that do complex things from James(mostly fashion related things, Melody figured out as she flipped through it, embarrassed that James thought she was that dense), and some other things from random people that still seemed to like her; mainly candy and cheap jewelry she will never wear. Her father had given her a pair of gold earrings with a diamond drop at the ends and Cheryl gave her a simple gold band that was rather ugly and Melody quickly threw aside. Her grandparents gave her a cute, three piece outfit and Cheryl’s parents seemed to have forgotten their present.
Melody frowned as she realized there was nothing there from Sirius. She went through the paper and bags again, but there was nothing. For a moment, she felt hurt, then almost hit herself on the head. It’s Christmas and Sirius would most likely want to give his present to her in person. That’s what Melody had done.
Remembering that Sirius’ gift was in her closet underneath some last-season sweaters, she jumped off the bed and stumbled over to it. Once her hands were on the parcel, she left the room, still in her pajama pants and tank top, barefoot, and hurried across the hall to Sirius’ room. She didn’t even knock as she swung the door open. Sirius was still sleeping, head face down in the pillow.
“Sirius!” she said as she jumped on to his bed and crawled over, shaking his shoulder. Sirius didn’t wake. Climbing over him to his other side, Melody laid next to him, facing him. She kissed his ear, his temple, his jaw, the corner of his mouth, his lips. . .Sirius then returned the kiss and smiled against her mouth before pulling back and stretching.
“What time is it?” he asked.
“About eight,” Melody said, propping herself up on her elbows. Sirius groaned as he put his arms over his face. Melody laughed, “It’s Christmas. Now get up. We only have fifteen and a half hours before it’s over!”
That woke Sirius up. He sat up and gave Melody a rather deep kiss. When they pulled away, Sirius looked at his presents at the foot of his bed to the one in Melody’s lap. He began opening them.
James got Sirius a bunch of Zonko’s products and a book on how to fix and fly motorcycles(apparently, the Potters had gotten him one for his seventeenth birthday last March and it needed a lot of fixing). Remus sent him books on Transfiguration and chocolate, Peter got him the same too-big box of chocolate he had gotten Melody(Sirius told Melody that Peter had run out of money after buying his gift for Veronica and the chocolates were by one get one free). The Potters had gotten him a cloak for when he could fly the bike and a cousin, Andromeda, had given him a framed photo of her, her muggle-born husband, and their daughter, who had bug eyes in the picture. Lily and Lisa had both chipped in together to get him Zonko products and a three volume set of Pranking books. A few girls that decided to try and win Sirius’ heart with a gift had also sent a few things, but other then that, Melody realized that Sirius was quite alone. He didn’t have much of a family if the Potter’s hadn’t stepped in.
“Okay,” Sirius said, jumping off his bed and opening his trunk, “Now, for your present,” he grinned. Melody waited patiently as he pulled out a small neatly wrapped box. He handed it to Melody and she was surprised by how light it was. She handed her present to Sirius.
They opened them at the same time. Melody gasped in awe and Sirius laughed out loud. Melody had given Sirius a knife that could unlock any door. It was rather useful, especially for a Marauder. Sirius had given Melody a ring. The gold band automatically adjusted to fit the wearer properly and a small diamond sat in the center of the teeny, tiny heart. It was a gorgeous piece, simple, but gorgeous and Melody looked up at Sirius in awe. She felt a grin spread across her face as Sirius took the ring from her and slipped it onto her finger.
“A promise ring?” she confirmed.
“A promise ring,” Sirius nodded. Even after the twenty-four hours was up, Melody knew that the promise still stood. Just not as a romantically, deep way.
“Thank you,” Melody smiled and the gap between them closed for much longer then necessary. She loved the taste of his kiss.
There was a knock at the door that Melody had left open when she entered. The two pulled away and looked over at the door, dreading it if it were Cheryl. But it was just Gladys and she smiling, though trying to look stern. She was pretty much failing with that and seemed to know it.
“I’m making pancakes,” she said, “Do you want me to add white chocolate or milk chocolate chips?”
“Both!” Melody said, Sirius nodded in agreement. Gladys smiled.
“Okay. Thank you for the sweater Melody,” she said, walking out. Melody smiled and looked back at Sirius, but he was staring at the knife, turning it over in his hands and smiling slightly.
“You okay?” Melody asked. Sirius jumped.
“Yeah, fine,” he said, getting up off the bed and moving to his trunk where he stored the knife in a safe place, “Thanks for the knife. That can become incredibly useful!”
“Add it to the rest of your Marauder secrets,” Melody laughed.
“James will be ecstatic about it. How many times we’ve come to a door that won’t unlock with a spell. There are a lot of them in Hogwarts, believe it or not.” Sirius explained and Melody laughed. He seemed nervous and was babbling.
“Do you want to go see if Gladys needs help and eat all the chocolate chips?” she asked, ignoring Sirius’ questionable look from her laughter. Still eyeing her suspiciously, Sirius nodded and Melody jumped off the bed and went to him, slipping her hand in his and dragging him out of the room.
-*-*-*-*-
“I love chocolate chips,” Melody said as she put one in her mouth. The bitter sweetness of it made her shut her eyes tight.
“Cute,” Sirius laughed, putting a few in his mouth himself. Gladys had gone into the dining room and was setting the table leaving Melody and Sirius to eat chocolate chips by themselves. Sirius was watching the pancakes that were currently turning golden brown in the pan on the stove. Gladys had trusted him with the spatula more then she trusted Melody.
“Me?” Melody teased and then leaned over the counter and kissed Sirius gently before pulling back, grinning.
“Of course you,” Sirius said and then flipped the pancakes before the bottom burned too much. Melody smiled, but felt a bit uneasy. Everything they tell each other is true, isn’t it? Or are they lies? Nothing would be the same after the twenty-four hours was up.
“Everything okay?” Gladys asked as she returned. Melody looked up before popping some more chocolate chips in her mouth, “Keep eating those, Mel, and you’ll have no room for pancakes.”
“I love pancakes,” Melody said smiling.
“Melody needs to eat more anyways,” Sirius laughed.
“Why?” Gladys gasped and rounded on Melody, “You aren’t sick are you? No problems, right?”
“No,” Sirius answered for Melody, “I just think she’s too skinny.”
“He dishes out food for me at school and makes me eat it,” Melody explained to her grandmother, who smiled.
“Aw, well, that’s a good thing. Shows that he watches over you,” she nodded and then put some more batter onto the pan and took the spatula from Sirius to continue her cooking.
Breakfast was done only minutes later. Gladys called for everyone to come and one by one, the rest of the house came and sat down. Melody and Sirius immediately ducked their heads and held their breaths, hoping that nothing would be said. It was Christmas, after all, and there was no need for harsh words. They said grace and then began to eat passing the syrup around and asking about presents, thanking one another where necessary.
Once that was done, Sirius and Melody insisted on helping with the dishes but Gladys said she would not allow them and sent them outside in the snow. It was colder today then the day before and Melody’s cloak did not seem to be doing the trick it had done yesterday. She shivered for a moment, thinking of ways to get warm and run around when something icy hit her head. The snow soaked her hair and dripped down her back. She spun and glared at Sirius who was trying to look innocent.
“You git!” Melody cried as she wiggled, trying to get warm.
“Git?” Sirius laughed, “Me?”
“No, the guy behind you,” Melody rolled her eyes and bent down, forming a snowball in her cold hands. Then she aimed and threw it at Sirius’ head. Unfortunately, her throw was somewhat weak and ended up on Sirius’ chest.
“Ooh, that one hurt,” Sirius said sarcastically.
“You want it to hurt?” Melody threatened. Sirius smirked as she took a step forward. He let her get closer before he lunged at her and grabbed her around the waist, spinning her around so her back pressed against his chest and he breathed on her neck, pressing his lips against it as Melody giggled and squirmed. Her squirming pushed him off balance and Sirius fell into the snow.
“Okay,” Sirius said, he had fallen on his tail bone, “That hurt.”
“I bet it did!” Melody said and wiggled off of him and sat in the snow up right. She looked at Sirius as he too sat up properly and he smiled at her.
That smile caused something to erupt inside Melody. Something she had never quite felt before. It was a strange feeling. Strong and longing. It troubled Melody as she felt her stomach twist awkwardly as Sirius’ smile faded as he looked away across the acres of her property. What was it that she had felt? It had faded slightly, but not quite gone away. For a moment, Melody thought it was something similar to what she had felt for Kyle, but what had she felt for Kyle? Clearly, the love she thought she felt for him was not strong enough on both ends. She moved on from him quickly and he was moving on from her long before they had broken up. This feeling was so much different and it made Melody nervous.
“Manly snow angels!” Sirius suddenly cried falling back and moving his arms up and down and legs together and apart. His cry broke into Melody’s thoughts, something she was grateful for. She moved over and started a snow angel of her own.
They went back inside an hour and a half later. They were frozen through their clothes and shivering. Their cheeks were pink and noses red and Sirius was complaining loudly of his windblown hair he had so “carefully” brushed that morning before they went outside. Melody just giggled, still troubled by that odd feeling that still had not faded away completely.
Cheryl was in the kitchen as they came in. She glared at them, glancing at their interlocked hands and grinning faces. Both of them chose to ignore the awful woman as they kicked off their boots and left the kitchen, heading towards the stairs. Still holding hands, Sirius hurried after Melody, knowing she was distracted by something. Somehow, Sirius knew that it was not something Melody was wanting to talk about and he kept his mouth shut and did not ask.
In Melody’s room, she shut the door and they shrugged off their cloaks and pulled off their gloves and scarfs. Melody glanced at Sirius and then wrapped her arms around his neck, finding his mouth with her own and kissing him deeply. Sirius eagerly returned the kiss and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. Melody put one arm around his neck, playing with the ends of his hair, and her other hand brushed along his cheek.
Sirius caught her wrist and lowered it to his chest, not letting go. Melody sighed against his lips as he pushed her back so she was laying down on her bed. Only, unlike the night before, they both resisted to go further or to allow the snog to get anymore heated. And yet, as Melody ran her fingers through Sirius’ hair and as Sirius teased Melody by gently tugging at the waist of her jeans, they both wanted each other.
Of course, their longing for each other could simply be the thought of not being able to taste the kisses they were enjoying so much again after twenty four hours could be leading them to want to move faster and more seriously.
After a good couple of minutes of snogging, Melody pulled away. She was looking up at Sirius, who was laying similar to the way that they had that day on the grounds when Sirius had to chase her down. She smiled and twisted a strand of Sirius’ hair around a finger.
“Are we doing the right thing?” she asked, “This twenty four hour thing?”
“No,” Sirius said, not smiling, “But it’s too late to back up, isn’t it?”
“Are you going to want more? When this is over?” Melody questioned, looking at Sirius oddly. What they were doing now was much more then curiosity. It was lust. Melody did not like admitting it.
“Are you?” Sirius returned and kissed her softly.
Melody did not answer. She just bit her lip, wondering. It was a good question, one that she could not and would not answer. Sirius sighed then, laying on his back next to Melody and looking at her.
“You are the one that suggested this,” he said, sounding a bit annoyed.
“I know,” Melody said, “It’s just. . .” that feeling made itself known again.
“Just what?” Sirius urged, his eyes holding something Melody had never seen before. They both were acting different.
“Just, I don’t know, a feeling that things will be all screwed up now,” she shrugged.
“I’m proud you figured that one out,” Sirius said, grinning slightly. He moved to his side to look at Melody better. She bit her lip as she moved sideways, too. For a long time, they stared at one another.
“Do you love me?” Melody whispered.
She was just as surprised by Sirius to hear those words come from her mouth. His eyes grew wide and she could have sworn his face paled a little. He did not look away though as he thought of what to say. And Melody waited, not sure whether or not she wanted an answer. Then, instead of answering, Sirius sat up and pushed Melody onto her back so he hovered over her.
“We can’t,” he said so soft that Melody almost missed it.
Then he kissed her again before she could ask any other questions.
A/N:Melody's present to Sirius. . .same as Sirius gave to Harry in book five. ^_^ Though I would point that out.
Sorry this chapter took so long. When I was typing it yesterday, I ended up accidently typing something that will happen next chapter. So then, I had to retype the second half of it just to make sure it flowed right. The entire 24 hours was supposed to be in this chap, but it'll be much to long and I want to get this up. The rest will be included in the next chapter. Thanks for being patient.
And thank you all for putting me on your favorite author lists! I feel so honored to be on the top ten list. Geez, i would never have though! Thanks soo much! I love you all for it!
Now, because i always listen to music when I write and update and because thehpf always does this in her reviews, I am going to do it here in my author notes:
Currently listening to: Through Waiting - Greenly Esates
Thanks so much!
I hope you liked the chapter!
Please review!
xoxo
Carolyn!
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